Trust No One
by Clara Kingsley
Summary: A strange new girl arrives in Gravity Falls, Oregon and falls into a good friendship with the Mystery Twins a little to easily. Could she be the key to unlocking all the mysteries surrounding the town, or involved in the destruction of the entire world? Maybe she's just another tourist just passing through this sleepy town in Oregon. Better find out before the time runs out.
1. The New Arrrival

Chapter 1

The New Arrival

_Who wrote the journals?_

_It's always been a question in the back of my mind, every second of every day. Who wrote this mysterious book that I've been keeping in my jacket all summer? Where did they go? What happened to them? Bill said I was on the verge of some real answers, yet every time I feel as though I'm getting closer to those answers, they slip away…_

_I need help._

It was just another sleepy, summer day in Gravity Falls, Oregon. The Mystery Shack was normally pretty packed with tours, since their defeat of Lil' Gideon. However, today was what could finally be considered a slow day and not just "a normal day". Dipper Pines was behind the cashier desk "watching it" for Wendy, while she was casually sneaking her way towards the ladder to the roof. He watched her as she pretended to be rearranging the various merchandise, until the second Stan's back was turned and she could sneak up the ladder.

"_Dipper!" _

He let out a scream of shock as his sister, Mabel Pines, appeared beside him. She was clad in a forest green sweater covered in different sizes and shapes of buttons, with the phrase "Cute as a Button" stitched across the center in rainbow colors.

"Stop staring at Wendy. You've got to let her go, bro."

"I wasn't staring at Wendy. I was writing stuff down about that one thing over there." He looked down at the notepad and realized he had been writing, _"I'm most definitely not looking at Wendy. I'm pretending to write something, pretending to write something, pretending to write something …"_

"See, Mabel." Dipper added, even though it only weakened his argument.

"Come on, man. You've got to get back out there. You think I just gave up on boys after Bipper caused me to ruin my sock opera designed to impress Gabe, or when my first boyfriend turned out to be a bunch of gnomes in disguise. NO! It's time to rebound!" she yelled, pounding her fists on the desk with enthusiasm. Mabel looked around the vaguely occupied gift shop, until her eyes settled on a target. "What about that cute, honey over there?

Dipper sighed and gazed up at the girl Mabel was pointing at. She looked like Lazy Susan, only more wrinkled and minus the lazy eye. The only reason he would ever even think about walking up to her was to check if she was still alive. She'd been checking out the same snow globe for thirty minutes now.

"Mabel, she's even older than Wendy." Dipper added, wondering what his sister was even thinking by suggesting her. Then again, his sister was, according to herself, an expert matchmaker. I mean, she was the one who duct taped Waddles and Gompers together and threw them a wedding. Nothing was off limits.

"If you're looking for someone our age, how about one of my girls? Or maybe Pacifica?" Mabel tried suggesting.

"No. Definitely no, to all those choices," he replied, quickly, mentally shuttering at the thought of dating any of those girls. Candy and Grenda were too much like Mabel, yet managed to have their own quirks that made them even weirder. Then, there was Pacifica, "Why would you even mention Pacifica? Isn't she still your arch nemesis?"

"She's been a bit nicer, since we almost got killed by talking golf balls. I think she just longs for real friendship and love." she reasoned. Dipper couldn't argue that. Ever since the mini golf incident, she'd stopped laughing and whispering about them with her "friends" when they passed her on the streets. When she was alone, she'd acknowledged them with a head shake. However, that wasn't enough for Dipper to be swayed from his hatred.

"The answer is still no. She's a bleach-blonde Barbie, who I still don't like one bit."

"What about her, then?"

Dipper rolled his eyes and looked to yet another unsuspecting Mystery Shack tourist Mabel was pointing at. She looked to be about twelve, her wavy auburn-brown hair hit her shoulders and was wearing a plaid babydoll dress. She was reading out of a book entitled, _"How to Cope with Your Supernatural Paranoia."_ and kept looking back up at the case with the "Why?" monster in it with curiosity.

"No, Mabel. Look, I'm not interested in finding some summer love like you are, there are bigger things to worry about right now." Dipper stated, firmly. He didn't care about finding some new girl to like, he cared about finding the journal author. It was about halfway through the summer and he didn't have a clue about who the author was. Dipper was determined to figure it out before the "big things" Bill was talking about actually happened. His intuition told him whatever they were, they were not good things and he needed to stop them, despite Bill saying he couldn't.

"Come on, Dipper. I'll go warm her up for ya'."

"Mabel! Don't!"

However, Mabel was already on her way to go talk to her. Dipper shrunk down behind the counter, in case she decided to point him out and further embarrass him. The girl was now looking at one of the postcards off the postcard rack, when Mabel walked up behind her and shouted,

"Hi! I'm Mabel Pines. What's your name, stranger?"

The girl naturally jumped up and let out a small scream, just like Dipper had earlier when Mabel had snuck up on him. Except, she took the postcard rack down with her. She stared at up at Mabel, who was hunched over waiting for her answer, probably wondering if she should give it.

"Abbey McCorkle." she answered, a little uneasily. Mabel offered her a hand up and hoisted her back onto her feet.

"I love your bracelet! It looks like candy!" Mabel shrieked, as she noticed it hanging off her right wrist as she picked her up. It was band of pastel-colored stars in a rainbow that surrounded her wrist.

"Thanks, I made it before I had to leave all my craft stuff back home in Piedmont." Abbey replied, holding it out for Mabel to have a better look.

"You're from Piedmont. So are me and my brother. We're staying here for the summer cause are parents thought we could use some fresher air and all that," Mabel explained. "What about you?"

"My parents thought my obsession with the _Labyrinth_was getting to dangerous levels and also wanted me to get some fresh air."

"I'm obsessed with the_Labyrinth_too. Omigod, you're like my soul sister!" she gasped, pulling the girl into a hug. Suddenly, Mabel was dragging the girl in his direction and he ducked back behind the counter, hoping they didn't see him. "Dipper! She's a good one. Come meet her!"

"Ugh, Mabel!"

A good one in Mabel's eyes was Candy and Grenda status, which meant this girl was bound to be yet another whack job like his sister and her friends. Also, the _Labyrinth_. He hated that movie. He groaned and reluctantly stepped out from behind the counter.

"Abbey, meet my brother, Dipper."

"Nice to meet you," Dipper stated, although not very sincerely. He originally had no intention of getting to know her. However, further examination of the book in her hands made him wonder about her personality a little more. "That's a strange book your reading for a visit to a supernatural hotspot."

"Well, it says to go to one of these sort of places to see how fake the supernatural really is," Abbey explained. She flipped through the pages, until she found the page she was looking for, "_The supernatural is really made up by money grubbing, con men, trying to sell you crap you don't need._"

"Sounds like Grunkle Stan," Dipper added, remembering Stan say pretty much the exact same thing before they found out his knowledge of the supernatural. "But I wouldn't discredit the supernatural so easily. The Mystery Shack maybe some fake tourist trap, but I've seen some things in this town."

"Really? You've actually seen things."

"Yeah, loads of things. This town is full of the supernatural," he added. She was looking up at him with that sparkling interest he got when he discovered something new. Could it be she was really that interested in the mysteries of the town? "I could show you some of my findings, if you want."

He could just show her a few things. Not like the journal or anything super major, for now, but enough to keep her belief in the supernatural alive. Ever since those government agents had shown up, he was actually looking for someone else he could trust and share all of this with. Unfortunately, they got dragged away by zombies. Mabel and Soos weren't always a great help and things between him and Wendy were still pretty raw. He needed someone more like him, someone with that supernatural instinct. Who knows, she might become a strong ally to him if he let her get involved. It seemed like she had the drive for it.

"That'd be amazing!" Abbey exclaimed, with a broad smile.

"Sppsh, you don't want to listen to this guy bore your brains out with his nerd talk and crazy conspiracies," Mabel remarked, adding a farting sound effect at the end. Dipper glared at her, but she ignored him. "The girls and I are having a classic sleepover tonight you should totally come."

"Yeah, that sounds great. I love sleepovers." Abbey replied, turning her attention away from Dipper to Mabel.

"Be back here at around six with your wackiest pajama bottoms, ready to dance, magic dance!"

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Mabel, how could you do that? She was actually interested in my research on the town," Dipper shouted, once Abbey was completely gone. For once he had found someone who actually believed him and Mabel had just snatched her away. "I thought you wanted me to rebound."

"That was before I found out she's my soul sister," Mable argued, even though she'd just met the girl like fifteen minutes ago "You can't date my soul sis, Dip. That'd be incest."

"Okay first off, she's not a blood relative of ours, and secondly, I don't want to date her. I just want to talk to her."

"You're just going to scare her off! Look, I know you want a supernatural girlfriend and I haven't been a very good Mystery Twin lately, but I saw her first," Mabel argued. Dipper scoffed. It was a childish argument. Mabel scowled at his resilience. "It's girl's night tonight, which means I better not see you trying to talk with her and poison her mind with your conspiracies. Got it?"

"Mabel—!"

"Dipper, pick up all these postcards! What'd the pig go berserk again?" Stan interjected, from over by the fallen rack.

Dipper groaned and went to go pick them up, while Mabel retreated to the den in a small sense of victory. This conversation was not over, however. He wasn't about to let Mabel get in his way just because she wanted another weirdo best friend. He could sense that this girl was more like him then she was Mabel and he planned on drawing out that fact and gain a true ally to help him solve this town's mysteries. He was talking to this girl. Tonight.


	2. Taking Over Midnight

Chapter 2

Taking over Midnight

Mabel was just as persistent to keeping him away from girl's night as he was to crash it. He should have figured she'd put the _Labyrinth_ on in the den to keep him away for at least a good hour and forty-two minutes. He sat secluded in the spare room trying not to hear the terrifying musical numbers and laughs of the goblins. After that it was makeovers and karaoke, two things he'd be forced to partake in if he even showed his face. They had already gotten Soos, before he went home for the day. He had probably left still wearing blue eyeshadow and really bright red lipstick. Dipper didn't understand why she was going to such great lengths. For the most part, Mabel supported him and had his back on everything. Why was she being like this now? He was just trying to reach out to someone new. Was that such a crime?

Dipper decided to give up and just retreat to the spare room for the rest of the night, rather than attempt to go back up to the attic. It was nearing midnight and he could still hear the party raging pretty hard. Figuring he wasn't going to get any sleep anyway through a hardcore mix of BABBA and &amp;NDRA, he ended up copying information from his journal onto a blank piece of paper in the dim lamp light. That way, when he eventually did get to talk to Abbey, he could show her without revealing the journal. He couldn't use the copier, for obvious reasons. Dipper had found the perfect thing to show her that wasn't threatening, yet equally mystical and unreal.

After some major hand cramping, he decided it was a good time for a break and got up to get a Pitt Cola from the fridge. If he wanted to keep at it without Grunkle Stan making bag jokes about his eyes again, he'd need it. Dipper went into the kitchen to find someone else already occupying the fridge with the six pack in hand. Abbey was wearing a dark red sweater and Tiger Fist pajama bottoms and was propping the door open with her behind, while she handled the cola.

"So, how's the sleepover going?" Dipper asked, trying to sound casual even though her sudden appearance startled him.

"It's pretty epic. Sadly, I brought some Smile Dip and the girls are going a little nuts right now," Abbey answered. She walked over to Dipper and offered one of the sodas. He accepted and popped it open. "Candy thinks she's David Bowie, Grenda keeps yelling about boys, and Mabel just keeps saying 'Onwards Aoishima'…"

"Where did you even get that stuff? Did you raid that haunted convenience store or something?"

"No, my dad smuggled some back from Japan for me. It's strangely still legal there."

"Wait a minute, did you intentionally drug my sister and her friends with Smile Dip?" he asked, suddenly. Why else would someone bring that sugary poison to a sleepover if she did not have the intent to use it deliberately?

"It wasn't on purpose…" she claimed, gazing off to the side guiltily. Dipper gave her an unconvinced look and she sighed. "Okay, maybe I didn't have any for a reason. It's just that I was really hoping to get a chance to talk to you about the all strange things in this town."

"I'm weirdly okay with this," Dipper stated, with a straight, emotionless expression. It was technically Mabel's fault for actually eating it, she knows very well what that stuff does to her. Also, she was being a real butt to him for the past several hours. He'd help her deal with her crash in the morning, but now he was finally getting to talk with Abbey. "I actually was just figuring out what I wanted to show you."

"Really? Whatever it is, let's go see it!" she exclaimed, immediately. She didn't ask for any clarification, what exactly he had picked. Whatever it was, Abbey was already on board.

"Right now? In the middle of the night?" he questioned. Sure, things like the haunted convenience store and the Summerween Trickster happened at night, but he'd never actually gone looking for something at night before.

"Yeah," Abbey answered, in a 'so-what' kind of attitude, "unless you're too afraid."

"Please, I've accidentally seen Stan naked before. I have no sense of fear anymore." Dipper replied, like it was no big deal.

"Ha, dude, that's really gross."

"Yeah, the fear thing was a lie. If anything, it just made me more terrified and scarred for life."

"Give me five minutes," Abbey stated, running past him for the stairs, "I'm going to get re-packed and hand these sodas off to the girls, so they don't dehydrate."

"Roger that, I'll meet you out front." Dipper answered, heading back for the spare room. He quickly grabbed the paper he'd copied and stuffed his journal to his inner vest pocket, just in case they did encounter something else while they were out there.

He and Abbey met in front of the Mystery Shack exactly five minutes later. She was dressed sensibly for a night excavation. Same dark red sweater, except with jeans and black converse instead of her Tiger Fist pajamas. What had once been her navy sleepover pack was slightly less bulging, yet now had the end of a baseball sticking out of it.

"Is that Stan's baseball bat?" Dipper asked, assuming she probably wouldn't bring her own baseball bat to a party. His uncle kept that thing hidden under the couch sofa and she somehow managed to find it within the short amount of time she'd been there. It was pretty impressive.

"We might need it." Abbey answered, simply.

"Trust me, what we're going to see his the most nonthreatening thing in the forest besides the gnomes."

"It's just a precaution. You never know."

Dipper cracked a small smile. He liked her over thinking. It was how he was usually too, except with things like this, strangely. All he ever seemed to need was the journal and that was enough to keep him alive through everything so far. Thankfully, Abbey had brought all the essential they would probably need. Flashlight, map, compass, etc.

"So, how long have you been into the supernatural anyway?" Dipper asked, in attempt to make conversation as they began walking through the woods.

"For as long as I can remember. My grandfather always used to tell me stories about this town and the things he saw here," Abbey answered, with a small illuminating smile. "You remind me of him a bit."

"Thanks, I guess," he replied, sounding a little weirded out. She was comparing him to a wise old man, which was probably not something you wanted girls comparing you to. However, it was better than comparing him to a baby or a kitten, like pretty much everyone else in town did. It wasn't a bad place to start. "So, if it's that much a part of who you are, why were you reading that book earlier?"

"My aunt is really against this stuff. I carry it around everywhere and pretend to be reading it to keep up the illusion that I'm trying to get over my obsession," she explained. "It makes sense how much she hates it, considering how bonkers your grunkle and my grandfather were about it. Both of the men in her life obsessed."

"Oh yeah. They used to date like several decades ago. Weird."

"Yeah, she doesn't like to talk about it much. I wonder what happened."

"Didn't she leave him for a hippie or something?"

"That's what she said too, but I feel like there was a different reason, though..." Abbey added. An awkward silence had formed in the realization they were talking about their relatives dating in the middle of the night while they were walking through the woods, "Much needed subject change, what exactly are we looking for?"

"This," Dipper answered, holding out the page for her to see. Abbey held the light up and started to read the neat scrawl of Dipper's handwriting.

"_Along with the incredibly evasive Leprecorn the Gravity Fall's forest is naturally also home to Unicorns, the mythical legendary creatures of unimaginable power. They reside deep in the forest by the crystal pools and to the left of an unnaturally perfect stump. The Unicorn can be in a range of colors, spanning through dark brown, jet-black, moonlight silver, dazzling gold, although the ones in the forest are mostly a clan of pure white. I've—" _

Dipper had gotten up for the soda and hadn't gotten around to copying the rest of the pages, but the short paragraph was enough info to lead them to where the unicorns were. He gazed intently over at Abbey, waiting for her reaction.

"Unicorns? Really, Dipper?" Abbey added, as she finished reading the paragraph. She sounded unimpressed and a little bit skeptic.

"You're seriously about to live every girl's fantasy. Are you literally that unimpressed?" Dipper argued, in retaliation. Apparently, Abbey was less like his sister then he previously thought. Mabel would've flipped out at the chance of seeing a unicorn. He sighed and held out his pinky, "I promise I'll show you a monster on the next trip, alright?"

"Deal." she answered, interlocking her pinky with his. Dipper smiled at the prospect of another trip, something a little more dangerous. This girl was alright.

"Alright, there's the unnaturally perfect stump. It should be just up ahead."

They followed a blue glow to the left of the stump, until they reached a clearing. Sure enough, following true to their name, were several pools of crystal clear water surrounded by crystals popping up from the ground. Meanwhile, drinking from them and wading in them were pure white horses, which were so white they could be seen clearly even in the darkness. They were taller than an average horse and had magnificent mane and of a translucent silver color.

"Whoa, their magnificent." Abbey whispered, as they were crouched in the bushes. Even though earlier she had been practically scoffing at his suggestion that they go looking for unicorns, she seemed to have a memorized sparkle in her eyes now.

"You sound a lot more impressed now." Dipper smirked, a little smugly.

"Alright, I admit it. I love unicorns. I'm a girl, don't judge me." she admitted, blushing a little. Dipper had started laughing, when suddenly he felt something was nudging at his side. It was one of the unicorns. He was strange compared to the rest, he must've been just a baby. The unicorn was more chubby and well-rounded, rather than graceful and elegant. His hooves, as well as the inside of his ears and snout were a bright pink color.

"Hey, this little guy kind of reminds me of Waddles." Dipper smiled, picking him up and examining. He was about the same size as his sister's pig and had the same dark eyes and stubby legs. Hopefully, Waddles was keeping an eye on the girls. He was starting to get a little worried about them.

He was too distracted thinking about his sister and examining the chubby corn's features to notice an approaching presence behind him.

"Um, Dipper…" Abbey trembled. Dipper knew that tone couldn't been anything good. She was looking behind him with a terrified expression, which could only mean it was another one of those predictable scary movie moments where the monster was looming right behind him. Sure enough, he turned around to see a pitch black shadow with glowing red eyes. "Run!"

They started running into the darkness, trying to comeback the way they came only to realize they hadn't been marking their path as they had gone deeper inside the forest. Dipper didn't hear running after them, he heard galloping, which mean that thing was behind him must've actually been some form of a unicorn.

"I don't understand. They were supposed to be harmless!" Dipper murmured, to himself. He consulted the real journal with his portable black light, to see if he had missed something crucial. The haunting purple scrawl on the page read,

_Harmless by day, deadly by night._

"Why would you add that only in black light?"

"What're you talking about?" Abbey questioned. He didn't realize he had been talking out loud. Abbey couldn't know about the journal despite their lives being in mortal peril, not yet.

"It's nothing. This way." He grabbed her hand and they ducked behind some bushes, while the unicorn ran past. Abbey tossed the flashlight into a nearby tree and the unicorn started circling it, thinking they were hiding up there. Meanwhile, Dipper quickly readdressed the page again for possible weaknesses. After seconds of speed reading, he found it, "Their weakness is their horn!"

Abbey removed the baseball bat and made a running jump at the unicorn's horn. The bat was broken into splinters, not even making as much as a dent or a scratch.

"Great…" she sighed, sarcastically. Abbey tossed her broken half on to the ground. The unicorn whinnied and its horn started to glow that sinister red, as it picked up the two in a sort of tractor beam, "Dipper, I'm sorry I dragged you out here."

"Don't be. I'm sorry I got you involved in something like this." Dipper sighed. It was a mistake to bring someone else into all this mess. It was a mistake to go on a mystery hunt without Mabel and Soos. All of this—

Suddenly, they were dropped onto the cold, slightly damp grass. They saw the unicorn shrieking in agony with it's horn know looking like the broken baseball bat. It fell to the ground to reveal the person who had taken it down. A red head in a bomber hat and green flannel, that Dipper knew all too well, stood poised with an axe resting over her shoulder.

"Wendy!? What're you doing here?"

"I was out with the driving with the guys when I heard a very distinct scream of terror coming from the woods. Figured you needed some help." Wendy replied, in her normal laid back tone. They hadn't realized it but they had run to near the road. Dipper could see the guys pounding on the roof of Thompson's van as they spoke.

"Why do you have an axe?" Abbey asked, obviously not knowing who she was talking too.

"My dad is a lumberjack. I pretty much always have an axe," Wendy answered, simply. Then she gave Abbey a double take, probably realizing that it wasn't Mabel standing beside him for once. "and you are?"

"Abbey McCorkle. I'm staying with my aunt Carla for the summer." Abbey stated, extending her arm for a handshake.

"Yeah, I think your aunt used to babysit me when I was a kid. She let me get away with so much stuff," Wendy remarked, shaking Abbey's outstretched hand. Dipper waited for her to say something more, ask why Abbey was alone with him at like three in the morning in the middle of the forest, "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Wendy."

"Thanks for the save, Wendy. We would've been toast if it weren't for you."

"It was no sweat. I'm glad you guys are okay," Wendy smiled. The guys were shouting at her to come back to the van, so she turned to leave, "Take it easy, dude. I'll see you in a few hours for work."

"Bye Wendy!" Dipper exclaimed, with the usual frantic wave goodbye he always gave her. She waved back and headed back for the van of over-hyped teenage boys. It was about an hour walk down the road back to the Mystery Shack. They collapsed on the porch, back-to-back, in an exhausted huff at around four wishing they had begged Wendy and the guys for a ride. Suddenly, they felt movement in the space between their backs. There was something rustling around in Abbey's backpack. She set the bag down on the ground and Dipper carefully opened it. The chubby unicorn from the forest rolled out of her pack with an orange cheesy mustache and an empty bag of Doritos.

"Oh my god! He's back for revenge," Dipper yelled, in a panic. He unconsciously shielded Abbey and awaited for attack, but the unicorn just stared up at them with his beady black eyes. He walked past Dipper and licked the side of Abbey's ankle, like a little puppy who was trying to clean his owner's wounds. "Huh, it seems like he's harmless, but the suns not up yet."

"Can I keep him then?" Abbey inquired, squatting down to pet him. "He been following us around since we met him and I'm pretty sure that was his mother we just got killed."

"Did you just ask me if you could keep an all-powerful, mythical creature, which could possibly kill you, for a pet?" he questioned, looking at her like she was crazy. They both looked at him with the same sparkly, puppy dog eyes his sister always gave him when she really wanted something and Dipper caved, "Sure, why not. Knowing the people in this town, they'll just think he's a miniature horse."

"Thank you, Dipper," she smiled. Abbey reached into the outer pocket of her backpack and grabbed some baby wipes to help him with cheese mustache. Then she pulled out a real fuzzy pink, gentlemen's mustache and a bow tie and put them on him, "I am strangely prepared for this."

"Where did you—"

"I brought them for the sleepover. You need a lot of different accessories for the 'Dress up and dance around like morons' portion."

"Well, I'm about to go get like five minutes of sleep." Dipper yawned, beginning to open the screen door.

"Me too. See you in five?"

"Haha, roger that."

While Dipper settled back into the spare room. Abbey quietly crept her way back to the attic. The girls were completely passed out in a litter of empty Smile Dip. Stickers and glitter everywhere.

"Ugh, Abbey? Where have you—"she froze when she saw the new sleepover guest she was carrying in her arms. Mabel barely held back an excited squeal as she squished the chubby corn's cheeks. "Oh my god. Who is this little angel?"

"Mr. Rainbows." Abbey answered, pretty much coming up with the name right spot. She was too tired to think of something more creative and it did really suit him.

"Ah, I just love his mustache and his little bowtie. He and Waddles are going to be the best of friends—"

She collapsed back into a deep slumber, like she had never woken up. Abbey thanked god and ran for her sleeping bag for her five minutes of sleep.

The five twelve year olds all awoke much later, in a groggy daze. After a quick breakfast of pancakes and cereal, Grenda's mom came to pick her and Candy up. Meanwhile, Mabel was chugging down shots of Mabel Juice trying to cleanse the toxins of Smile Dip with plastic dinosaurs, which left Abbey waiting on the porch of the Mystery Shack alone. Another opportunity Dipper didn't dare miss.

"Hey listen, so I know last night was kind of a mortifying, but I've really been in need of a fresh mind trying to help me solve the mysteries in this town," Dipper started, although it was probably not the most natural conversation starter. She smiled and nodded, indicating she was interesting in helping him. "However, I need to know that I can trust and depend on you before I get you more involved into stuff like this. People have already been hurt."

"I understand," Abbey replied, simply. Her aunt pulled up and honked the horn, looking very aggravated to be here. She looked around wildly, probably keeping an eye out for Stan. "I look forward to proving to you that I can be a trusted ally."

"See ya' later then?"

"Definitely. Mabel already has another sleepover lined up next week."

She waved goodbye as she got in her aunt's car and Dipper got perplexed staring at her as she left. However, it was not for any sentimental reason. He thought he'd seen something crazy. It must've just been a trick of the bright morning light, but for a second her shadow had looked like just a floating triangle…


	3. I Can Help You

Chapter 3

I Can "Help" you.

Of course, the triangular shadow wasn't a mere coincidence. If Dipper hadn't been so sleep deprived from the crazy night, then he might've realized someone else was also had their eyes on Abbey. Or eye, as it so happens…

A week went by, nothing mysterious, no more monster hunts, just a normal week at the Mystery Shack. Abbey frequently came by and talk with him and Mabel. She'd walk in the gift shop, set Mr. Rainbows down to play with Waddles and her self-help book on the counter to rest while they talked. The combined cuteness dot eyed creatures naturally got Mabel out of the way, but Abbey never asked Dipper about the supernatural or gaining his trust. It was like she was afraid that if she mentioned anything Dipper would instantly not trust her. Abbey seemed just as paranoid as he was. So, they merely engaged in normal conversation, before grunkle Stan would notice her freeloading and she was forced to make a hasty exit. Dipper was still hesitant about her for some strange reason, anyway. He didn't know what his deal was. He just couldn't escape the feeling there was something off about her…

"Whatcha' thinking bout, bro-bro?"

Mabel had noticed Dipper staring inadvertently at this guy across the shack who was previously looking at the Stan bobbleheads, but now was looking at him slightly creeped out. Dipper was spacing out, making yet another overly complicated list in his mind to figure out Abbey, while he polished and re-shelved the snow globes.

"Uh—I was just wondering where Abbey was. Weren't you going to take pictures of Waddles and Mr. Rainbows today?" Dipper stammered, hopeful she would not read his mind with her twin powers. Abbey hadn't come by at her normal time today.

"Oh yeah. I wonder where she is."

"I'm sure she'll be here eventually..."

While they wondered about Abbey's late arrival, Abbey was busy arguing with her aunt, Carla McCorkle, after she'd said she was off to the Mystery Shack once again. Carla was blocking Abbey's and Mr. Rainbow's exit from the house with a furious expression.

"I don't want you hanging around that Pine's family anymore. They're bad news." Carla argued, yet gave no prior explanation as to why. Sure, Mabel and Dipper had been seen doing weird things in public before, but it's not like they were dangerous. Her bitterness of the past was obvious.

"But Mabel and Dipper are the only cool people I've met this summer," Abbey argued back. It was not fair that she was trying to force her back into a normal, boring summer. All her talk about ghosts and wendigos didn't make her the most popular person back in Piedmont. She had friends, finally, and she wasn't about to just lose them over something like this. "Just because you dumped their great uncle doesn't mean I should have to stop hanging out with them."

"I don't have to take that from you. You're grounded, kid," Carla huffed, looking quite appalled. She grabbed her purse and stormed for the door behind her. "I'm late for sewing club. I don't want you so much as taking a step into the backyard!"

With a slam and a lock of the door, Abbey was left alone with the overly dressed up unicorn and utter silence. She laid on the couch debating whether she wanted to defy her aunt and sneak out anyway or just lie there and wallow.

"_What are you going to listen to that witch? Sneak out!"_

Abby shot up off the couch and looked around the room. That had not been her inner conscious talking. The voice had a strange auto tuned sort of pitch and it was like it had come from her mind, but most certainly wasn't her thoughts. Mr. Rainbows leapt suddenly for the sliding glass door to the backyard and she let him out. He strutted around intently and searched around with intensity, like a bloodhound looking for a fox. He could sense it to. Someone was out there. While Mr. Rainbows continued to track, Abbey rushed to the toolshed and grabbed a shovel.

"Whoever you are, you'd better show your face now!" she yelled, into the seemingly empty space, brandishing the shovel like a sword. "I'm getting impatient…"

Mr. Rainbow's horn started to emit an ominous pink glow and within seconds he had entrapped something in it. He leapt to bite it, hold it down until he killed it for his mistress.

Abbey gaped at the vermin he'd caught in his jaws. It was not a creepy burglar or animal of sorts. Mr. Rainbows was chewing on the side of a floating yellow pyramid with thin black arms and legs, that were struggling to rip it's side away from the unicorn's teeth. It also had a bowtie and a top hat for some reason, being as well dressed a magical creature as Mr. Rainbows. It's singular eye beckoned for Abbey's assistance.

"Alright, I've shown myself. Call off your hound!"

It talked. It was the voice that she had heard in her head. Abbey removed Mr. Rainbows and watched as the triangle floated above their reach, as to not get almost eaten again. However, it did not simply float away like an animal freed from a trap, it stayed above them, looking down at them with what Abbey thought looked like a happy expression.

"Well, well. I guess the cats out of the bag," it laughed. Suddenly, removing a cat from his top hat and tossing it at them. Abbey dodged it with a shriek and the cat hissed and ran away. "So, you finally noticed me. Good time, considering that I've been following you for around for about 13 days, 7 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds."

"What are you?" she asked the creature, trying to suppress her mixture of fear and curiosity.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I am, Babydoll. Just check your little self-help book." it laughed, cruelly. She glared at it. Him, probably? He'd somehow known just what to say, just the right thing to tick her off.

"What do you want from me, you isosceles monster?" Abbey demanded. He looked insulted for a moment, but it faded quickly

"No need for name calling, sweetheart," he remarked, motioning her to back off a little. She remained in an angry silence, but he went on, "The name is Bill Cipher and I've come to help you."

"Help me?"

"That's right. It's recently come to my knowledge that Pine Tree is thinking about letting you into his group. Apparently Red, Shooting Star and Question Mark just aren't enough for him." Bill explained, casually, as if he hadn't been practically stalking her this whole time.

"And?" There was more to it that he was obviously not telling her.

"And I want to help you get in his inner circle, that's all," he reasoned, with a carefree and easy tone. "Can't a dream demon do something nice once in a while?"

"I don't need your help with getting Dipper to trust me." Abbey insisted. Bill laughed, like he thought what she had said was some kind of joke.

"Of course, you do. See, you don't know him like I do. The kid does not trust so easily. You saw him in the forest right? He was obviously hiding something from you," Bill added. "This town has made him paranoid beyond repair. He's honestly convinced there is no one he can really trust besides his team."

Abbey thought about it for a moment, actually considering the demon's help. She wanted Dipper's help as much as he wanted hers. However, even giving it another thought probably meant she had already mentally made the decision.

"What's it going to take?"

"Just a little of my assistance and you'll be off with your new best friend, solving all the mysteries in this town."

"And what do you want for this assistance, Mr. Cipher?" Abbey questioned. She smart enough to know that deals with creatures such as Bill did not usually end well. If she didn't know exactly what was being wagered, he could take everything from her. "Everything comes for a price. What do you want from me? My soul?"

"I don't take souls. I'm not that kind of triangle. What I desire from you is what you desire from Pine Tree. Trust…" he answered, mystically. "All I want is your faith in me, Babydoll."

"You want me to trust you?" she inquired. Was he serious? "Why?"

"I like you. You've got talent and brains, which comes short supply in this hick town," Bill replied. She let out a microscopic smile at the compliments bestowed upon her, but went back to a frown realizing the source was a demonic illuminati triangle. "Not to mention, your family has always been a favorite of mine. Oh, the secrets I could tell you about your own history."

"What secrets? My family doesn't have any secrets."

"Of course, you wouldn't know. They're called secrets for a reason," Bill laughed, cruelly. Abbey didn't know what to think of the possible information he might have. Bill Cipher seemed like an all-knowing being and it was apparent that he might actually know some things about her family's origins. He might've even had information about her grandfather. "Take my offer and you get me and the Pine twins help into discovering those secrets and more. Refuse and I may just tell Pine Tree that secret you're keeping from him."

"Fine. I'll accept your deal." she agreed, finally. What he was offering was just too good to pass up. All he wanted was for her to trust him, become his ally as well, which was not too stiff a price considering all he could have taken from her. If that was all he wanted, he couldn't have been as bad as he seemed. Bill would've probably grinning with delight, if he had a mouth. His eye seemed ecstatic.

"Shake on it?" Bill inquired, holding out his black skinny hand for her to shake. The moment she took his hand, a blue flamed burned over their intertwined fingers. Abbey watched as Bill suddenly began to shrink to the size of a chip and rested himself on her right shoulder. "I could get used to this…"

"Aren't people going to wonder about a strange talking Dorito on my shoulder at all times?" Abbey questioned. Although, people in this town didn't tend to notice odd things for some reason, surely the presence of the ominous yellow glowing triangle would cause some sort of stir. Her aunt was bound to notice… "My aunt is probably going to try and perform another exorcism on me, if she sees you."

"Relax, no one else can see me," he added, dismissively. "Although, I understand the note of concern with people like your aunt. Boy, does that woman live to forget horrid things like me."

"What do you mean? Have you met her before?" Abbey asked, curiously. Perhaps just minutes after forging their deal, he would let something slip about those family secrets.

"Way back in the day, when she was rolling with Stan Pines. Those two used to cause me a heck of trouble," Bill replied, nonchalantly. He probably wasn't going into any further details, to much of her dismay. However, it did tell her that he actually knew Mr. Pines and her aunt. They had probably actually seen Bill Cipher with their own eyes. She'd have to keep that in mind the next time her aunt Carla lectured her on the supernatural. "But never mind that, now. We were off to the Mystery Shack, right?"

"Right." she replied, completely forgetting her incarceration to the house.

Abbey arrived at the Mystery Shack twenty minutes later, paranormal self-help book in hand and, unknowing to the dim tourist eyes, two supernatural creatures at her side. Dipper was at the register, flipping through a copy of _Gold Chains for Old Men_ magazine, obviously bored out of his mind. She tried to speak up to get his attention, but she had no idea what to say to him under the eye of Bill Cipher.

"What do I say?" Abbey whispered, down at her shoulder.

"This is for own good." Bill stated. His voice held no remorse. In that split confused second, a blue force of energy shoved her copy of _How to Cope with Your Supernatural Paranoia_ onto the floor and the book cover flew off. It revealed something that was not the book. The maroon book hidden within the cover was torn and tattered with age and had spy glass now hanging out of the bottom.

"_Bill!"_

Dipper noticed immediately, however, paid no attention to Abbey shouting the name of his enemy at her own shoulder. Instead he made a rush for the book on the floor. He clutched it tightly to his chest, like he was protecting a newborn baby, and glared at Abbey with pure hatred at what he thought she had done.

"What are you doing with my journal? Did you steal it from me?" Dipper snapped at her.

"Your journal? This is my journal!" Abbey retorted back. Dipper released it from his bear hug, just enough to see a glimmering six-fingered hand with a number four on the front.

"Four…" he whispered, holding it out in disbelief. There was a fourth journal! His mind was racing with thousands of questions. He'd always thought his was the last one. Dipper had always been so focused on finding out the author he never asked the question of whether or not there were other journals out there. There could be like six or seven for all he knew. "Where did you get this?"

"It was in some kind of secret compartment in my basement. I found it at the beginning of summer."

"So, that book you're always carrying around has actually been another journal this whole time that you've just put a book cover over to make it look like some stupid supernatural self-help book." Dipper reiterated. She nodded silently and awaited his reaction. "That's brilliant."

"I'm sorry." Abbey apologized, despite the fact he wasn't furious at her. It was the secret Bill had been talking about. Her secret. "I've been lying to you."

"Don't be, I was keeping mine a secret too," Dipper added, with a semi sort of half smile. He removed his journal from his inner vest pocket, feeling stupid for having blamed her considering it was there all along. He handed his to her and let her quickly flip through the pages. Then, Dipper realized that he voluntarily just handed her the most powerful weapon he had. He could trust her! "It's most of the reason I haven't been able to fully trust you. However, now that I know you can be trusted with the journal secrets, this changes everything. We have to join forces!"

"Really?" she smiled, sounding relieved. She glanced down for a moment and Bill gave her a thumbs up with what was probably a wink. _'Ask about the other journals.'_ he whispered.

"So, if you have three and I have four, do you know where one and two are?"

"I've never been sure about one, however, two was with…" Dipper retraced his thoughts, until he realized who the holder of the second journal was. "Gideon…"

"The child psychic? Isn't he in jail because of you guys?"

"Yeah, this one's kind of on me. I'll go handle it."

"I should go to, help facilitate. Let's be honest, he probably isn't going to want to talk to you after you sent him to prison." Abbey replied, bluntly.

"Fair point." Dipper added. After distracting Mabel with a cuteness overload, the two set out for Gravity Fall's Maximum Security Prison. Which, despite the name, was easier to get into then it sounded. They just walked in, claiming to be cousins of Gideon (just to be on the safe side), and they were going to go get him from his cell.

"So, you guys have to search all the criminals before you place them in here, right?" Dipper asked, nonchalantly, to the lady at front desk. They were waiting to be called in to the visitor's room, so he was using the time to investigate. If they had it he might not even have to go in to see Gideon. Dipper honestly didn't want to have to, after the crap he'd put the Pines family through.

"Contraband is not allowed. All belongings found on an inmate's person upon arrival are confiscated and returned upon release." the woman replied, simply

"Well, you see, a journal was stolen from me by Gideon Gleeful and I believe it was on his person when he was arrested." Dipper lied.

"Let me check the records…" She wheeled her chair to a drawer, pulled out a file and began to read, "No journal was found on Gideon Gleeful upon entry. Just a lot of hair products."

Just then, they were given the okay to go in. Dipper and Abbey were led through a flickering florescent hallway, only slightly nervous. Meeting with a real convict was one thing, but this was a ten year old who was about the same size as Gordie. Dipper wasn't worried about Gideon trying to strangle him from across the table or anything like that. His short arms couldn't even reach. They were led into a room and there sat an orange jumpsuit clad Gideon Gleeful. Arms crossed, feet on the table, looking very pleased about what the guard had brought him.

"My, my, if it isn't Dipper Pines. You're looking well," Gideon smiled, as if he wasn't thinking about killing him in his mind in some kind of rage fantasy. He always made it sound like they were on good terms, until he went into one of his sudden rages. He seriously was in need of anger management, "And who is this sweet country peach beside you? I thought you'd bring my dear, Mabel, if you'd ever stopped by to pay me a visit—"

"After all those creepy letters you've been sending her, I don't think so," Dipper replied, sounding all business. He and Abbey sat into the appointed chairs and got to the point immediately. "Listen Gideon, I've come to learn what you know about the journals."

A taut and evil smile replaced the fake humble one in seconds, as Dipper's inquiry had once again revealed the real Gideon Gleeful.

"I was wondering when you were going to come around asking about the journals," Gideon added, putting his feet down to face them properly. "First, why don't you share what you already know."

"Only if you promise to tell us everything you know too."

"Deal."

"To my knowledge, there was once a researcher who devoted his life to finding all the secrets in Gravity Falls and enclosed all his findings into three journals. He hid them all around town and just vanished." Dipper explained, making it appoint to leave the newly discovered journal out.

"Done already?" Gideon inquired, with a smug air. Even though he was a head shorter than the both of them, he was looking down at them. "That is the general story, yes. However, my quest to hold all the journals had nothing to do with the author who wrote them. He doesn't matter anymore."

"He doesn't? Why not?" Dipper questioned. He had always thought that was the most important question there was. It was the center of all his researching and investigating. Who wrote the journals? Could that question really not matter?

"Boy, haven't you ever wondered about the power all three hold together? Separate they are strong, but together they hold the key to unlocking powers far beyond your comprehension."

"So where did you get your journal?"

"I found it in the woods by my tent on accident. Some sort of secret hiding spot."

"Did you ever find the first?" Abbey inquired, curiously.

"I believed it to be hidden somewhere in the Mystery Shack," Gideon replied. Dipper tried not to gasp and ask all the questions that were popping up in his head. He hadn't been trying to just steal the Mystery Shack to torment his family. "That was part of the reason why I hired Bill to steal the code to the safe with the deed and take it. I needed that book!"

Abbey glared down at her shoulder. There probably wasn't another Bill in this town with enough insanity to do something like that.

"_What? It was just a job."_

"So, where is your journal now?"

"It fell out of my jacket upon my arrest. I assumed you had picked it up, finally complete your set," Gideon answered, with the same wicked smile. "Obviously someone's been a lot smarter than you, Dipper Pines."

"Thank you. I think we have everything we need." Dipper added, simply, getting up to leave instead of further comment on Gideon's statements. Abbey turned to follow, until Gideon reached all the way across the table to grab her wrist as she got up. He had to stand up on his chair to reach her, but he got there.

"A word of advice, girl. If you're thinking about getting into this. Don't. Get back on the bus home while you still can," he threatened. She yanked to let go and was about to call a guard until he added, "Wait, just one more thing."

"What?" Abbey inquired, slightly frightened, slightly angry. He just told her to abandon her summer and go back home. What more could he possibly have to say if she was just supposed to give up?

"I think you have something on your shoulder. You might want to brush it off..."


	4. The Kids Are Not Alright

Chapter 4

The Kids are Not Alright

"The guy's head was just like, KAPLOW! And that's how we got covered what is probably blood and guts."

Abbey and Dipper were currently busy explaining their latest supernatural investigation and reason for their odd appearances to Mabel as she sat in for Wendy at the gift shop cashier's desk. Wendy was apparently "sick" and Mabel for once got drafted into running things, instead of Dipper, while Stan was touring the vacationists. Lately, Dipper and Abbey had begun going and investigating the creatures in their journals, following the steps of the author. Dipper was blatantly disregarding Grunkle Stan's warning to stay away and his promise not to go hunting down anything, but he didn't care. He felt alive and that was all that mattered to him.

"Probably?" Mabel inquired, sounding only slightly confused and mostly disgusted.

"Technically, it wasn't even a real guy," Dipper exclaimed, excitedly, waving his arms around as he talked. He was still hyped on the adrenaline and fear. "They were—what exactly were they again?"

"Gargles." Abbey replied, quickly flipping to the page in her journal and holding it open for them both to see.

"Right, Gargles. Point for your journal. That was a good one."

"You'll come with us next time, right?" Abbey inquired, to Mabel. She didn't like splitting her time between the twins, considering they were both of their friends. Even though Mabel was the one who had actually reached out to her, Abbey felt like ever since Dipper found out about her journal he was more trusting of her over Mabel with this stuff. Which was not what she planned when she went as far as making a deal with a magical floating triangle to get his trust. The last thing she wanted to do was break up the Mystery Twins. "Dipper and I were going to plan a daytime trip to see the unicorns when they don't turn evil and try to kill us."

"Oh, I'll be there." Mabel replied, immediately. Dipper gave Abbey an appreciative smile for the attempts to include his sister in this stuff again. He must've been worried about her too.

"Letter for Dipper and Mabel Pines." the mailman called, suddenly, from outside the screen door. Mabel suddenly sprang into action and made a rush to go get it.

"I'm Dipper and Mabel Pines!" she yelled, waving her arm in the air. He gave it to her and rushed back down the road as quickly as possible. The mailman never did like delivering things to the Mystery Shack. Not only did he find the whole Pines family odd, Soos was still convinced he was a werewolf and glared at him with a creepy intensity every time he came in. "I bet it's from mom and dad."

She brought it over to Dipper and they started to read,

"_Dear Dipper and Mabel,_

_Upon hearing the news that your great uncle lost the Mystery Shack to a ten year old and did not send you home, like he said he would over the phone, we've grown very worried about your summer care in Gravity Falls. We'll be coming up there as soon as we can to check things out for ourselves and see whether we need to take you back to Piedmont for rest of the summer._

_-Mom &amp; Dad"_

"Oh god…"

"Quick, Dipper you need to call them! You're the more responsible sounding one." Mabel remarked, grabbing the shop phone off the counter and shoving it in his face.

"Alright, alright…" He grabbed the phone, dialed the number, took a deep breath and waited. Mabel looked anxious, while Abbey just looked confused as to what was going on.

"Hey mom. How're you?" Dipper started, using his slow, obviously trying to sound like the good child, voice. He nodded at the responses and continued, "Listen, we just got your guy's letter and there's really no need to come down here. Everything is fine. Grunkle Stan got the shack back and were all doing great again."

Dipper's face slowly was forced into a frown as she answered.

"Oh, you guys are already on the train and will be hear in a few hours. Okay, I guess we can talk then." he sighed. He bid her farewell and hung up. Dipper had barely put down the phone when, suddenly, the gift shop door was kicked open. A brunette women in a giant sun hat and shades strutted confidently into the Mystery Shack, followed by a broad man in a green polo, texting on his Blackberry. Her bohemian style floor length sundress and smoldering cheek structure made her seem like some sort of high-class fashion model. However, she was known to Dipper and Mabel as mom.

"_Oh great. Shermy's kid and that devil woman…"_

"Or we can talk now…" Dipper added, staring at his mother suddenly there in the flesh. "You just said a few hours."

"I lied." Mrs. Pines replied, coldly, to her son.

"Mom!" Mabel squealed, running towards her mother.

"Sweetie! How's my little girl?" she smiled, taking off her shades and embracing her daughter.

"Super special awesome." Mabel replied. Mrs. Pines released her daughter as she got a look at Dipper without her shades on behind Mabel. The mosquito bites on his arm were apparently the least of her worries.

"Dipper Pines! What on earth are you and that girl covered in? Is that _blood_?"

"Oh this. Well, you see me and my friend Abbey here are testing out her makeup skills for Summerween." Dipper laughed, nervously.

"Nice try, Dipping Sauce. Summerween was last month. I'm not stupid." Mrs. Pine replied, bluntly, K.O-ing her son's weak lie. Grunkle Stan suddenly walked in, loosening his tie a little after just finishing with a packed tour. He got slightly startled to see his entire family were in his gift shop without his knowledge.

"Sheila, Rob, what're you doing here?" Stan inquired, with that fake smile he used to greet tourists. He was probably happy to see them, just surprised and nervous that they were here. What had they found out?

"Stanford! Rob and I just came to check on our darling children."

"Like I told you, everyone is fantastic. Now, with that punk Gideon in jail, it's been nothing but smooth sailing."

"We'll see. Since, we made it all the way down here I thought we'd stay a few days—"

The door opened once more, with a smaller and normal jingling of the bell. The woman who entered was a much more humble looking woman, then Mrs. Pines had been. Although, she also had long brunette hair, it was darker and tied back into a loose ponytail. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with light mom jeans and followed by a blonde man in a blue Hawaiian shirt. They would have been mistaken for tourists, if a good majority of the room didn't know exactly who they were. John and Beatrice McCorkle, Abbey's parents, amongst other things. A few things should be noted about this particular couple. Although, they're not related by blood, they shared the same last name before marriage and happen to be the arch enemies of the Pines family.

"Excuse me, Stan—"

"Mom! Dad! What're you two doing here?" Abbey inquired, rushing over to them immediately.

"My sister was concerned about your behavior, so she called me and your father to—"

"Beatrice." Mrs. Pined stated, in a harsh tone.

"Sheila." Mrs. McCorkle answered, in a matching tone of discontent. "What brings you to Gravity Falls?"

"Just visiting my family…" Mrs. Pines answered, simply. She looked over her shoulder at Abbey, in a new light. "That little juvenile delinquent must be your daughter, then."

"_My_ daughter is not some delinquent. Maybe _your _son is the reason she's covered and blood!" Mr. McCorkle snapped back, rushing to his daughter's defense.

"Don't you dare try to shove the blame on _my_ son." Mr. Pines argued. Chaos broke out. The four were all fighting and yelling at the top of their lungs, while the children and Stan just stood awkwardly off to the side.

"_STOP IT!"_ Abbey, Dipper and Mabel all shouted at once, finally having enough after a few minutes of constant yelling. Dipper stood on the counter to tower above the parents and attempt to look as authoritative as his mother did on a normal basis.

"Cease fighting parents. Can you people act with some civility for five minutes?" Dipper questioned, looking at them all with shame and disappointment at their petty arguing. He didn't know what this was really about, but he didn't want to have to deal with it, "Abbey take your parents back to your aunt's house for now and we'll all meet at Under the Sea for dinner at six to celebrate such a wonderful occasion."

Abbey reluctantly followed her parent's out, looking over her shoulder at Dipper as she went. She just had the feeling that when she left, they'd just hop in a cab and take her to the train station and she wouldn't be coming back. Her summer, the adventures and their friendship. It was all over. He gave her a reassuring smile, telling her everything was going to be okay and she left. Dipper turned on his parents with a glowering frown.

"Mother, care to explain what that was all about?"

"The feud between the McCorkle's and the Pine's family has been running deep for thirty years," Mrs. Pines explained, like what had just happened wasn't all her fault, "To be honest, I don't even remember what we're really fighting about anymore. All I remember that it was started between Beatrice's elder sister, Carla, your grandfather, and Stanford. After your grandfather died, Rob's mother passed that feud on. She blames the McCorkles for his death, you know."

"Well, Abbey's our friend, momma. Can't you all forget the past?" Mabel begged.

"Very well," she sighed, grudgingly accepting her daughter's request. "As long as she's not leading you both to wickedness. I feel that there's something off about that girl…"

Meanwhile, the McCorkles had waited till they were home to discuss everything. However, the second they walked through the door and were greeted by the chubby unicorn, Abbey's parents just went off like bombs.

"Hanging around with the Pines family? I thought Carla was kidding," Mrs. McCorkle yelled at her. "Honestly, Abbey, you finally make some friends and it had to be Sheila's kids."

"They're creepy occultists. You saw that weird shack Stan turned his house into. We're taking you back immediately." Mr. McCorkle shouted.

"Please don't." Abbey begged. She clutched to Mr. Rainbows as if he were going to protect her from leaving. He licked her cheek to comfort her, while she could feel Bill's minuscule hand pat her sympathetically on the shoulder. Even he thought they were being too extreme and he practically invented being extreme and enraged. The Pines twins weren't the only friends she had made so far this summer.

"They're turning you into something wicked. You kept talking to your shoulder practically the whole ride home and what's with that strange mini horse with a mustache?" Mrs. McCorkle reasoned. Mr. Rainbows growled at her and she backed away a little.

"Give them a chance. They're totally normal, I swear."

"We'll see how normal they are at dinner tonight," Mr. McCorkle added, putting an arm around his nerve strung wife. "Until then, take a shower, take your horse thing, and go to your room."

Abbey did as she was told. She washed the blood from her hair, arms and legs and watched it go down the drain like she was in some horror movie, which creeped her out a little, but it made her smile for about a minute. It was gone by the time she was wrapped in her fluffy mint green bathrobe and was headed towards her room.

"What am I going to do Bill?"

She entered the room, towel drying her hair, meanwhile the demon had gone back to his original size and was playing with Mr. Rainbows on the floor of her room. Although, they had had a rough first meeting, Bill was starting to say that he liked him. The feeling probably wasn't entirely mutual considering "playing" was Mr. Rainbows chewing on one of Bill's stick-like arms or legs. Abbey always asked him if it hurt, even though she had a feeling he really couldn't feel the pain. He always replied back, in a terrifyingly happy tone,_ "Of course, but pain is hilarious."_

"I'd consult your journal, if I were you," he replied, simply. She pouted at his not very helpful advice and he obviously noticed she wasn't pleased with his answer. "Trust me, this feud isn't going to be stopped with normal means."

"What do you know about the feud? You knew them all thirty years ago, right?"

"It all started with your aunt, Stanford and his twin brother, Stanley. They were once a lot like you, Pine Tree and Shooting Star," Bill explained. Abbey eyed him with intrigue. She tried to imagine two younger men who looked like Stan Pines and her aunt going on monster hunts and exploring with the journals. It seemed so impossible. "I capti—I mean—_the author_ captivated them and he used them as pawns to build something horrifyingly amazing. Carla decided to forget, Stanford was lost, and Stanley strives to get them both back no matter what the cost."

"The author…" Abbey was about to ask him more, but suddenly there was a small tap on her window. Then, another. Someone was throwing pebbles at it. She looked out, to see who it was, and a pebble hit her in the forehead.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry…"

She recognized it as Dipper's voice and ceased forehead rubbing to meet his gaze.

"Dipper! They didn't put you on house arrest?" Abbey exclaimed, sounding very relieved and surprised.

"Not exactly. Mabel and I have been talking them down a lot and they've agreed to try to be civil and try to forget the past," he replied, cupping his hands together so she could hear him better. "How's the situation over here?"

"Well, they say they'll go to dinner, but if everything isn't perfect I'll be on the next train back to Piedmont." she answered, grimly.

"And we'll probably be right there with you," Dipper added, with a half-smile. She tried to smile back, earnestly, but it ended up hollow. Their summer was ending in the middle of July. They'd ride the train, but after that it was unlikely she'd ever get to see Dipper or Mabel again. She'd be alone, like she was before. "I've got to get back. I'll see you at six."

Abbey waved him off as he disappeared into the trees in the abendrot sunlight. She sighed, not noticing Bill had returned to his mini size on her shoulder to overhear her conversation with Dipper. He grabbed her cheek and pointed to her journal resting on her bed. She picked it up and started flipping through the pages, as she began to pace around her room.

"There has to be something I can do to make this evening perfect…"

"_Golden Carp _

_The Golden Carp are a peculiar school solely native in the rivers of Gravity Falls. Similar appearing to the Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) the Golden Carp hide in the rivers almost un-noticed. However, I've discovered that slightly cutting the tailfin reveals them to be prominently golden colored. If consumed it will bring peace and balance to even the bitterest of enemies. Now, if only demons and old girlfriends actually ate…"_

"That's it! The Golden Carp," Abbey exclaimed, shutting the book back down on her bed. "C'mon, Cipher. You're helping me go fishing..."

She had just enough time to go and get them, since she used Bill to catch the right fish with his powers rather than cutting a lot of tailfins. Abbey delivered the fish to the restaurant, with a note claiming it was tonight's special, and just barely made it back home to shower again and get re-dressed in the standards of Under the Sea.

Meanwhile, the Pines family were arriving at the ocean-themed restaurant early. Although, Mrs. Pines promised she would be civil this evening, didn't mean that she wouldn't try to prove that her family was superior any chance she got. They were all nearly black-tie formal, even Mabel. Dipper managed to negotiate her out of a sweater and she was wearing a simple pink dress with matching headband. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pines had chosen a black floor length dress that made her look like she should be strutting the red carpet. His father wore a tux with a tie, while Dipper's had a bowtie. He felt like an overdressed show pony, but the happier his mother was, the more likely this night would not end in disaster.

"It's as quant as I remember." Mrs. Pines exclaimed, as they walked in to the restaurant.

"Mom, it's the fanciest restaurant in town." Dipper argued. He looked around at the ocean-themed decorations scattered on the walls and the tables with the fancy spiked glass centerpieces. He knew it was no Piedmont restaurant, but he wouldn't go calling it quant.

"I know…"

"This is actually where your mother and I had our first date. I met her when I used to spend my summers at the Mystery Shack. " Mr. Pines added, with a soft smile.

"How romantic!" Mabel gushed. However, then Dipper noticed Mabel slightly shutter looking at a seat on the far wall. She was probably remembering her horrible first date with Gideon and forced to imagine what it'd have been like if they had gotten married and had kids too.

"It would be if…"

As if right on cue, the McCorkles entered the restaurant and, judging their appearance, they expected the Pines to try and one-up them. When the three of them entered it was just as much of a spectacle. Mr. McCorkle wore a dashing suit, while Mrs. McCorkle wore a powder blue dress and her hair was up in a tight bun. She looked like an older Wendy Darling. Abbey had settled on a black long sleeve floral dress her wavy hair was a low-side pony that hung over her left shoulder and was tied with a black bow

"Wow, you look all look nice." Dipper exclaimed, as Abbey and her family walked up to them. Although his comment was meant for all of them, he was speaking directly to Abbey.

"Thanks," Abbey smiled, silently hoping her hair wasn't too wet or she didn't still smell like fish. She also had to make sure she didn't flip her hair over and drown Bill. "How did you ever talk Mabel out of wearing a sweater?"

"A lot of bribery."

"I figured."

"Shall we proceed then?" Mrs. Pines inquired, intentionally stepping between her son's conversation with the girl and pulling him away. Abbey took a deep breath and merely followed along. She wasn't about to let Mrs. Pines obvious hatred of her get to her. She had to remain positive if she hoped to keep everyone's summer.

It was all going well so far. Although, the kids mostly had to instigate all the conversation topics. Unless they wanted bad subjects, like the past, to pop up. They talked about things like Mabel's various summer art projects, the progress of Dipper's summer reading list, and Abbey's blog writing about various things and happenings in town. Eventually, the waiter came to take their order,

"What shall it be, madam?"

"I'll have the salmon." Mrs. Pines smiled, politely.

Abbey flinched and mentally face-palmed. She forgot that this restaurant served other things and there was no guarantee they were going to order the special. It turns out that none of the parents found interest in the special, as the orders went around the table. She let out a discouraged sigh, but did not attempt to try and change any of their minds. It wasn't a really big deal. They'd just have keep doing this thing the old fashion way.

There was more chatting as they waited for their food to arrive. Events and news currently going on in their other hometown, Piedmont, more of the kid's summer adventures (minus anything supernatural), Abbey and Mabel's new creature friends. However, as people were getting their food at the other tables, the volume of the room seemed to get louder and it was harder to converse over the angry sounding crowd of restaurant patrons. The air seemed to get tenser, as well, but for once their feuding families were not the cause.

Then, suddenly, pure chaos ensued.

All of a sudden, there were women pulling each other's hair and attempting to claw people's eyes out with their freshly manicured fingers. Men smashing into tables and breaking plates with food still on it over other people's heads. The two families just stared at the utter madness, but made no attempt to get up and leave just yet. Abbey took the distracted moment to secretly remove her journal from her purse and the extra portable black light she'd borrowed from Dipper. What the hell was going on?

_Beware! If cut improperly, the Golden Apple effect is activated. Discord and mayhem will ensue to all who consume._

Abbey actually face palmed. She should've read the fine print beforehand, "Dipper! We've got to get them all out of here."

"Right. Mom, we've—"

However, Dipper was silenced by the most bizarre thing in this scene of chaos. Sheila Pines, his mother, was laughing. Not a constrained giggle, like she usually did, but full on she would be actually rolling on the floor if she wasn't so nicely dressed. As her son tried to grab her arm and lead her out of the restaurant, she had slapped it away to continue her laughter at the scene. They all looked at her for a moment, like she was insane too, and then Beatrice McCorkle started laugh with her. Before they could even process what was happening, all the parents were laughing like mad men. The kids just looked at them, confused and disturbed, wondering if they need to call the ambulance for their parents rather than the people around them. Then, suddenly, Toby Determined jumped out at them from amongst the chaos with a cinderblock.

"Smile, for the camera."

"Your camera is a cinderblock, Toby!" Mrs. McCorkle laughed, pounding her fists on the table with hysterics.

"After all these years, you were better off as an accountant, Toby!" Mrs. Pines laughed, pointing at Toby's hideous face. "Your dreams are dead."

"You harlot!" Toby shrieked, raising his cinderblock. Mr. Pines stopped laughing, considering he might be serious this time, what with the hostile air in the room, and his wife was probably in danger.

"Nobody tries hit my wife with a cinderblock." Mr. Pines yelled, as he punched Toby in the face. The cinderblock fell on top of him and knocked him out, hopefully, while Mr. Pines led his wife through the chaos to the exit. Mr. McCorkle grabbed his daughter and Mrs. McCorkle led the Pines twins towards the exit as well. Suddenly, they were all in the cool night air, running to get as far away as possible. Mr. Pines finally halted the group in the parking lot of Greasy's Diner, figuring it was far enough a distance.

"We were right to leave, Beatrice. This town is insane." Mrs. Pines huffed, putting her hand on Mrs. McCorkle's shoulder for support.

"That's why you started laughing in there?" Mrs. McCorkle questioned, knowing she did not really mean it. Yes, the town was insane, but not in a bad way most of the time. "You miss the small town and the hick craziness, don't you?"

"A lot…"

"I know we've never gotten along, even before all this feud stuff between our families, but whatever happened between all of them doesn't have anything to do with us," Mrs. McCorkle stated, suddenly. Sheila Pines was listening to her for once, actually taking in her words, which was why this needed to be said now. Then, Mrs. McCorkle extended her hand, "On behalf of all the McCorkle's, I'd like to put an end to this foolish blood feud."

"I suppose the Pines family accepts," Mrs. Pines answered, immediately taking up the extended hand in her own and shaking. She looked to her husband for agreement, because the feud was technically between her husband's family, and he nodded in agreement. It was time to end such petty fighting. "Besides, my children really seem to like your daughter. When we get back home, we'll probably be seeing each other a lot more from now on."

"I look forward to it." Mrs. McCorkle smiled.

"Now, let's get some dinner pancakes. I didn't get to eat at all…" Mrs. Pines stated, grabbing Mrs. McCorkle's arm and escorting her inside the log shaped building. Grunkle Stan was already inside at a table looking shocked that his family was walking in fancy dress to this dump, but to they were friendly mingling with the people who they believed were the enemy. However, knowing the truth better then them, he pulled up to his nephew and his ex-girlfriend's sister's husband with a large grin and joined in their conversation.

Meanwhile, the kids were outside marveling in their victory with plenty of awkward sibling hugs and rad high-fives to go around. Dipper even somehow managed to spin Abbey around with his noodle arms. After they had finished with their own mini celebration, they were all entering the diner when a grating, familiar voice spoke to Abbey,

"We pulled this one off, Babydoll," Bill stated, as she was walking in through the tinkling diner door. Abbey nodded silently, not wanting her parents or Mabel and Dipper to hear her talking to her shoulder yet again, "However, I wouldn't go telling Pine Tree about that mess you caused in there. Considering everything worked out for the better, he doesn't need the details."

"Okay…" she answered. She knew it was not right to lie about such a thing, but she was a little worried. Dipper would think she was an idiot for causing such a disastrous mess. Besides, the incident could easily be blamed on the craziness of the town. Abbey didn't have to necessarily go down for it.

However, little did she know, all these little reasons for not telling him were not exactly her own thinking. The demon had already begun to make her see things his way, placing his own ideas in her heart and mind. Today, it was something simple, something unimportant.

Tomorrow, who knows?


	5. Cinco Nights at Cipher's

Chapter 5

Cinco Nights at Cipher's

After barely making it through parent's weekend, Mabel, Dipper and Abbey were once again allowed to continue with a peaceful summer. Unfortunately, the following Monday was a terrible way to start off their continued freedom and total lack of parental supervision. It was a mysterious case of summer rain and, considering she didn't feel like venturing to the Mystery Shack, Abbey was sitting in the window seat of her room reading the latest issue of the Gravity Fall's Gossiper. Normally, on a rainy day stuck inside, she'd rather be reading one of her favorite books or her journal. However, for some reason she was reading this garbage. The Gossiper had arrived on their front step this morning and she figured she might as well see what it had to say, instead of chucking it back at Toby Determined's head for once. The amount of facts and grammatical errors were cringe worthy to a decently good writer like herself. She wouldn't be caught dead reading Toby's trash rag of a newspaper, but for once there was an article that actually sparked some interest. It wasn't too badly written either, despite the horrible pun in the title. Perhaps, that cinderblock to the head actually gave him some writing talent.

"_**HOO-ray! Freddy Fazbear and Friends are Coming to Town."**_

"_This week, robots from Hoo-ha Owl's sister establishment, "Freddy FazBear's Pizza", are coming to the Gravity Fall's mall branch of the popular kid's restaurant chain. Although, the sister establishment was re-opened many times since it's founding in 1987, it appears it finally had to close it's doors for good. Due to an incident involving night security guard, Mick Schmidt, back in November the establishment was forced back into closure and the animatronics are now being transferred here to Gravity Falls. Everything should be up and running by next Monday, so if you're looking for some good ol' family fun,__Hoo-Ha Owl's Pizzamatronic Jamboree now has twice the animal friends to play with! Come on down."_

Under the article was an ad for a new night security guard at Hoo-Ha's.

"You should ask out Pine Tree to this Hoo-Ha place. It sounds like a real hoot," Bill remarked, suddenly. Abbey jumped a little at his strange pitched voice, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Sometimes she forgot he was there, weirdly enough. "Not to mention he's kind of got the hots for ya'."

"He does not!" Abbey protested, to the absurd implication. "However, I used to go to Freddy's all the time when I was a kid. I guess it'd be nice to see those characters again. Ooh, like Foxy. I was so obsessed with him—"

"Regardless, ask Pine Tree to tag along with you."

"I don't know. It's kind of childish and uncool. Dipper's majorly concerned about his manly image and I'm not sure if he'd be into it."

"Would you rather go alone, then? Twelve year old girl, sitting alone eating complementary breadsticks, while a bunch of snotty brats scream at robots that are creepier then me." he scoffed, cruelly, crossing his arms.

"Oh, don't be like that, Bill. I won't ever be alone, as long as you're with me." she smiled back, despite his harsh comeback. The demon eyed her for a moment, examined her features. That innocently happy smile, sappy sentimental statement, and the fact he had actually succeeded in swaying her into having faith in him, made him feel just the teensiest bit bad about what he was doing to this poor girl. However, like with all the human emotions he occasionally felt, he suppressed it immediately.

"Just. Ask. The. Boy."

He shoved her phone into her cheek, with a surprising amount of force considering he was still in Dorito-sized mode, hoping she would desist that idiotic smile. She took it, dialed the Mystery Shack's number, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" Thankfully, it was Dipper. Not Stan, or Wendy, or anyone else who was probably currently at the shack at the moment.

"Hey. It's Abbey." she smiled, letting out a nervous breath, having momentarily forgotten how to breathe. Not only was what Bill saying earlier getting to her a bit, but Abbey hated using the phone. She was so awkward and always managed to say something embarrassing. The last time she called someone, who wasn't her parents, she ended up throwing the landline out the window.

"Oh, hey. How's it going? Your parents make it off okay?" Dipper asked, casually.

"Yeah, they left. Now, we can get back to our normal." Abbey replied. She smiled to herself about the fact they had actually had what could now be considered a normal. Well, normal for them. Supernatural investigating and monster hunts couldn't exactly be considered as normal to anyone else.

"Did you have anything in mind? I know it's raining today, but once it clears up we can totally do something together."

"I know it's a long shot, but did you happen to read the latest Gossiper?"

"Actually, yeah. Mabel and I were just playing mini golf and broke the window again. I was reading the main article while Mabel was taping it to the window to patch up the hole."

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go. You know nostalgia and all that."

"I don't know. Mabel was crazy into it, but I always found the place sketchy. It's like with the Labyrinth. I'm not into creepy puppets or animatronics." he replied, sounding pretty unsure it. He obviously didn't really want to go. She was failing at inviting him somewhere without supernatural pretenses. However, before she could panic about her complete lack of social skills, Bill spoke up,

"_Convince him there's something supernatural going on."_

"I think there's something suspicious going on with those robots, though." Abbey stated, immediately after Bill had told her to. Meanwhile, Bill slipped into her journal, like a bookmark, and she opened to the page he was obviously trying to show her. She'd read this page before and reckoned it was something plausible, considering Dipper's journal had a couple pages on it as well.

"Ghosts! I think all the animatronics are actually being controlled by ghosts," Abbey reasoned, quickly. Suddenly, her laptop was glowing that not-so-ominous-anymore blue and smacked her in the head. She instinctively dropped her phone to clutch her head pain. When she opened her eyes to grab the phone back, realizing she still had Dipper on the line, the laptop was opened on a news article that read _"Deranged Psychopath Murders five children at famous pizzeria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."_ She had some doubts about Bill's determination to show her this. However, the article was somewhat familiar to her. They re-opened again in the 90's, which was when she was a kid. They claimed it was something about health problems. Surely, the story was real. It didn't mean it actually involved ghosts. It just seemed like the perfect motive for them, "Remember, that crazy guy who murdered those five kids and caused the restaurant to close the first time."

"I was not aware of that fact," Dipper stated, sounding a mixture of shocked and disgusted. It was the kind of thing that really killed your childhood. "So, you think the ghosts of those kids who were murdered are in the robots?"

"Well, it says their bodies were never found. I think that he went as far as stuffing them into the suits and that's why the ghosts are haunting them."

"Now that you mention it, that place always did have the strange smell of mucus and blood. I always thought it was normal because that's what kids smell like," Dipper added, sounding more intrigued. She could tell by his tone he was about to say yes. "Alright, if you think it's that serious, we'll go check it out on Monday. Meet you at the mall at six?"

"Okay, I'll see you then," Abbey smiled. She pressed end and started to shriek like a dolphin. She successfully had convinced Dipper to go with her. Even though it was under supernatural pretenses, it was still a start. "Yes! I did it Bill!"

"You kid's seriously need to learn how to hang out without going on monster hunts." Bill sighed, floating up in the air so he wouldn't get crushed by the over-excited girl.

"Oh, come on. There aren't going to actually be ghosts there, so we'll just have a normal night and he'll learn we don't always have to going on adventures to hang out together."

It seemed like a simple enough plan. They met at the mall the following Monday near six o' clock, journals in hand, an EMF detector in Dipper's backpack, and cool men in black type shades. All the materials they'd need for ghost hunting. Unfortunately, any speck of cool they had was wiped away at the entrance. The second they stepped on that horrible multicolored spiral carpet to a room full of sugar high five year olds and were hit by loud strangely catchy children's music, any shred of dignity was peeled away.

"Wow, they even expanded." Dipper exclaimed, noticing the place seemed like it was lot bigger than he and Mabel had gone here with Soos on his date with Melody.

"Yeah, the Too Limited went out of business, so they must've bought the space for Foxy's Pirate Cove. He can't live without his cove."

"Well, if there's a ghost kid inside him I assume he can," Dipper joked. Abbey laughed, nervously, not because it was funny. It was because there were no ghost kids really and, now that they were actually there, she was starting to feel the guilt of lying about it. "Alright, we can't really investigate them up close, till after the place closes. So, we'll just act natural and then hide in the slide when they start closing up."

They had just sat down in a booth, when they spotted a familiar red head coming towards them. Wendy had her hair up and was wearing a black skirt with a horrible orange vest covered with several buttons that had cheesy puns and pictures of the characters on them. Apparently, she was working here because there's no way she'd ever wear such a horrid outfit of her own free will.

"Wendy! What are you doing here?" Dipper asked, with his normal nervous, crackling laugh.

"My phone got trashed at a concert. It fell out in the mosh pit and they were hiring here because of the whole merger thing. I figured it was a lame gig, but the pay is decent enough to get me a new phone in a couple weeks, if I split my hours at the shack and work both," Wendy replied, nonchalantly. "What are you doing here? Are you guys actually on a date here or something?"

"No. Abbey and I totally aren't a thing and, even if we were, why would we come here? This place is for babies. Were actually on official journal-murder mystery-supernatural stuff. Everything is just business as usual." Dipper answered, frantically, in desperation to save his manly image and still some obvious lingering feelings to Wendy.

"I guess that's decent. Tell me all about it. I love hearing about this stuff and I highly doubt Gary is going to notice me just chilling out." Wendy added, already sliding into the booth to join them. Abbey was soon cut out of the conversation quickly, not being too friendly with Wendy. Eventually, unable to stand being ignored anymore, she left to go 'investigate' without even bothering to tell them.

She decided to go see Foxy, the red pirate fox. He was admittedly the main reason Abbey wanted to come. The red fox had been paired with the Barrel Duo and were standing in a sand filled room with a pirate ship play structure. For the moment, the cove was barren of children because the floor show had just started with Hoo-ha and Freddy.

"Hi Foxy. Fancy meeting you here." she smiled, giving a small wave. He gave her a small blink, but remained pretty much immobile and stiff. "I'm talking to a robotic fox…"

"Like that looks any weirder then when you're talking to me." Bill reasoned. She smiled a little bit, thinking that might've been an attempt to cheer her up, or he was just being the sarcastic demon he usually is. Suddenly, like Bill had when he had first contacted her, there was an eerily creepy voice ringing in her head,

_Help me!_

"You heard the ominous cry for help right, Bill?" Abbey asked, trying to maintain a calm voice, even though she was mentally freaking out.

"Naturally. I don't have ears, but my hearing is still ten times better than yours." he answered, sounding a little uninterested and bored.

"What do you think it was?"

"Perhaps, your ghost theory wasn't as fake as you thought it was, Babydoll…"

On that note, she hastily speed walked back towards her and Dipper's table. Wendy was gone, probably back to work, and Dipper was sipping his soda, looking around for either clues or where Abbey had run off to all of a sudden. Part of her didn't want to ruin, whatever this was considered, with a real supernatural hunt. As much as she loved solving mysteries with him, she wanted them to just have a normal moment for once. They used to talk normally, like friends, before he trusted her with the secret. Being Dipper's ally had it's perks, but it also had a lot of disadvantages.

"Hey, where'd you run off to?"

"Just visiting Foxy. Nostalgia, childhood, all that."

"Did you see anything?" he asked, curiously, noticing her strange expression.

"Well, he did creepily call out for help from me. You think that's a sign?" she replied, with a hint of sarcasm.

"That's category seven at least." Dipper exclaimed, pulling his journal out of his vest to examine the ghost section yet again. He skimmed for a moment, before concluding the answer to what needed to be done, "For a category seven, we're going to have to salt and burn the remains."

"Which are supposedly in the robots…" Abbey concluded, looking at all the children crowded around the animatronic creatures. Up close, all her made up theories actually made sense. She never noticed how real their eyes looked, not like robots eyes, they were brighter and more lively looking, even though they were the eyes of dead kids. It couldn't all be true. It would be far too convenient.

"Yeah, this isn't going to be easy." he sighed. Dipper grabbed the salt shaker off the table and started sliding out the seat, while Abbey stole a shaker off the table next to them and followed him. "Let's just continue are plan of hiding in the slide and see what we can do after closing time."

The enclosed space did not seem like such a good idea when they actually got in there. Orange plastic glow, being forced to look at one another practically the entire time, the kids that kept crawling in on them, the looming third presence of a demonic triangle that Abbey was forced to feel. It wasn't very pleasant and a very awkward silence formed in the time they'd spent so far. Bill nudged Abbey's cheek with his little cane, gesturing she needed to do something to fix this situation quickly.

"Okay, so you know what movie I'm totally obsessed with, what about you? Everybody's got that one movie." Abbey asked, in attempt to fill this awkward silence between them with a casual conversation topic.

"I'd have to say _Die Hard_."

"Isn't that thing R-rated, though?"

"Yeah, but nowadays our generation is exposed to that kind of stuff early on. Don't tell me you've never watched an R-rated movie before." he reasoned.

"My parent's let me watch _The Life Aquatic_. They have a thing for Wes Anderson movies and Bill Murray."

"Nice one." Dipper seemed to loosen up and after that the silence just seemed to fade away. They were able to talk about things, normal things, except when they came up with different excuses to tell kids. One time they were inspecting the slide for disease, another time they were ghost haunting the slide that ate children's eyes out. They made Gordie cry, as if he wasn't traumatized enough. Eventually no one started showing up and they got caught up talking once again, life back home, how it was pretty miraculous they hadn't met up until now, almost obscure. Abbey didn't even notice, but she had actually successfully made Dipper forget they were ever on a ghost hunt.

"Jeez, it's already almost midnight," Dipper exclaimed, when he actually remembered what they were here for and bothered to check his watch for the time. "I guess we kind of got distracted. Do you still want to check it out or we can just head back to the shack?"

"I told my aunt I was having a sleepover at your guy's place anyway. Why don't we just wake up Mabel, make some popcorn, we can all watch Die Hard and you can tell me what's so great about Bruce Willis."

"I'd like that." he smiled. On that note, they both slid down the slide and began to sneak back towards the street exit. Unfortunately, the exit was blocked by a heavily dented steel door and, before they could even think about another way out, another presence was among them.

"Freeze, suckers!"

Suddenly, they were caught in blinding light of a flashlight. The jig was up and they had probably been caught by the nighttime security guard. Normally, they'd think that they were in colossal trouble and already be mentally coming up with their arguments and excuses, but there was something familiar about that voice that made them not panic.

"Soos?"

"Oh hey, dudes." Soos greeted, his voice instantly going back to it's normal upbeat tone upon realizing who they were. The fat handy man of the Mystery Shack was in an officer type uniform, rather than his usual question mark shirt, and looking to be taking the job rather seriously, unlike Wendy had with her new position here.

"What're you doing here?" Dipper asked.

"I'm the new night security guard. I just started five minutes ago," Soos replied. "What about you dudes?"

"We're investigating supernatural activity." Abbey answered.

"Oh god, did another video game become sentient because I don't think I can handle the girl in Romance Academy 9. Giffany was one thing, but her—"

"No, Soos. It's—Ready, Abbey?—Shablam!"

They had both simultaneously opened their journals to the pages on ghosts, a slightly dramatic move they may or may not have practiced at some point.

"Ah—specters? In my place of work? That does not fly," Soos exclaimed, with a frown and a serious glare. "Let me help you guys out. They don't stand a ghost of a chance in a duel against me. I've seen Ghostbusters like eighty-seven times."

"Great! Let's go check them out then."

"Actually, a guy from the old place is expected to call soon and give me a kind of night security guard orientation over the phone. So, we can do the investigating part after." The two nodded in understanding and they all walked to the small office/control room of the place. The office phone's light was already blinking red when they entered, "Huh, he must've left a message."

_Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked at Freddie's a while back. Normally, the night guard before you would give you a call, but sadly Mike Schmidt is no longer with us. He was tampering with the animatronics and we had to terminate him. Regardless of anything you might read, that's the official statement. I don't know exactly what the situation is over there at Hoo-Ha's, but I'm guessing the setup is rather similar, considering you guys have also had similar troubles in the behavior of your animatronics._

_Um, now, you probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about and it probably sounds a little iffy. But, there's no need to worry. Uh, the animatronic characters do tend to get a bit quirkier at night and will start to wander about a bit. They're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night or something. I've already talked to them before about turning it off, but if they get turned off for too long their servos get locked up and it's this whole complicated mess. So, just let them do their thing._

_Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules at Freddy's, him and our gang at least will probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. I believe you guys have a couple of broken and empty suits that we sent over, hoping you guys had the money to fix them up again. So, that might be an issue. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh. _

_Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But, I'm sure your first day should be a breeze. You've got nothing to worry about. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Make sure you remember to check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!_

"Well, that message was long and disturbing."

"That explains the dented steal door blocking the exit."

"I should be safe right guys. I mean I already look like a big ol' panda." Soos reasoned, sounding frightened, yet still doing his whole panda dance thing and saying it in that sing-song sort of way.

"Not enough, Soos. We better find those door close buttons fast. Dipper, quickly check the cameras." Abbey stated, going from frightened to taking charge in an instant. This was serious now.

"No movement except for Hoo-Ha and Freddy. Dipper reported, from over at the monitors. "They look like their having a conversation. Do you think they could be plotting something?"

"They probably know there isn't just one person here breaking the rules. They must've seen us earlier. They have to re-strategize."

"I thought you said they were kid's ghosts!"

"Kids with the thirty years' worth of knowledge on how to 'play' with the night guard," Abbey reasoned. She didn't really have time to think how real the theories had turned out to be and how strangely peculiar it was that they were so real. She needed to step up and lead, considering this was kind of her fault. "You heard what he said about Mike Schmidt and he didn't have twice the robots to deal with."

"Hey, there's two buttons here and I think one of them might be the door thing." Soos exclaimed, examining two buttons over at one of the doorways. He pressed one and the lights flickered on outside. Illuminated in the flickering buzz of synthetic light was the toxic purple rabbit, Bonnie, staring at them. "AHH!"

"Close it! Close it! Other button, Soos!" Abbey and Dipper both shouted at him, frantically. Soos quickly pressed the button above the button he pressed and another set of steel doors slammed down in front of them. "Okay, so we've learned that one button is for lights and the other closes the door. Camera update."

"Still normal, besides Bonnie over there at the door. However, there's just a black patch here labeled for the pirate cove." Dipper reported.

"We can't check the pirate cove?"

"Apparently, they don't have cameras in there quite yet. So, we won't know when Foxy and the Barrel Duo are coming."

"Right make sure you keep a watch on this certain area. They have to cross through to get to us. Something tells me they'll be fast considering their foxes, so we might have about ten seconds to get the door shut." Abbey added, pointing to the certain area she was indicating. Dipper nodded in verification that he understood. "Soos, you get that door and I'll take this one. Dipper, you stick on camera and battery check."

"Roger that!" Soos said, giving her a salute. He pressed the light to check the hall. Bonnie was gone now, so he pressed the door back open. Abbey ran to the other door and everyone got into ready positions, except Bill, who was casually asleep on Abbey's shoulder despite the current situation.

"Alright, let's see what these kid's got…"

**A/N: I'm sorry for the lame crossover with the first FNAF - It does connect to the plot parallel universe thing. Trust me, there was a point here. **


	6. I Don't Think I Can Trust You

Chapter 6

I Don't Think I Can Trust You

***Strong Language Warning. Beware the former night guard***

Everything was silent and still, besides for the buzz of the florescent office lights and the occasional sound of scurrying in the darkness. Soos, Dipper and Abbey waited for hours, occasionally flipping on the lights and checking the cameras, to scared and too tired to even speak. The creepy animatronics would sporadically move to different places, but not really anywhere near them. It was eventually 3 am, Abbey figured that they just needed to make it till 6, when the restaurant opened again and the nightmare would be over. Currently, the three were at that point in an all-nighter where you're so tired you're not even tired anymore, just really hysteric. There was a couple misplaced tired laughs amidst the serious, laser focus, but other than that—

_How boring…_

Suddenly, Dipper's eyes suddenly started sinking and he let out a yawn.

"Dipper, you can't fall asleep now." Abbey stated, noticing this dangerous sign immediately. However, her words had no effect. Dipper slumped over in the chair and then fell to the ground. Miraculously, he was still sound asleep after the fall. She looked to Soos to help her, but while she had not been watching him, he had already curled up on the ground at his post. "Oh, Soos, not you too…"

While Abbey was busy trying to shake them both awake, she foolishly unaware that there was a presence looming in the doorway, with only one glowing eye. A hook came out first and, before Abbey could even realize her mistake of not closing the doors while she tried to wake them up, it had grabbed her. Foxy dragged her into darkness and Soos and Dipper were only awakened by the sound of her high pitch, blood curdling, death scream.

"Abbey!" Dipper called out into the darkness. Nothing. Not even another scream. She was gone. His panic was immediately overcome with guilt and regret as well. He wasn't really tired at all and yet he had just toppled over, leaving Abbey alone. "I don't understand how I fell asleep at a time this important. How could I do that? Now, Abbey is going to die because of me."

"Dude, it wasn't entirely your fault. I fell asleep too. Equal blame, we both made mistakes." Soos added, with a comforting hand on Dipper's shoulder. The death of a friend was a hard thing to come to terms with, especially for a twelve year old who couldn't help but feel completely responsible. It would take time. Time they didn't have in this situation. They had to keep moving forward without her and deal with it once they made it completely through the night.

"Let me go! I am not a robot. I am human. I am not a robot. _I AM HUMAN_!"

Little did Soos and Dipper know, their immediate heart wrenching guilt was highly premature. They may have caused her to be dragged off, but she was not dead. At least not yet. Although, a loud haunting melody was drowning out her yelling from being heard by the others, Abbey was still not one to go silently. She thrashed about to break free of the robot and run away, but Foxy had an abnormally strong grip her for a creature with only one hand. Abbey was brought to a door behind the stage, a faux dressing room filled with broken suits. Her eyes widened, knowing exactly what was going to be done to her here and how terribly uncomfortable and horrifying it was going to be.

"Please. I know it's hard to control your actions, but please don't do this. The Foxy I know wouldn't do this and I don't think the kid inside you would either..."

He stopped.

Meanwhile, back in the control room, there was massive pounding on the doors from all sides. Abbey's door remained shut an unguarded, however, Soos was still dutifully at his station, trying to shield it from being completely broken off even though it was steel. Dipper was just sitting curled in the office chair, head resting down on his knees and clutching the fourth journal in his arms. Her journal.

"Dipper, they're really after us now. What're we going to do?"

"Just let them in. It's over, we should just give up..."

"Dude, I know you're upset about Abbey, but now is not the time to go all emo," Soos shouted back at him. Suddenly, he left the door, marched over to the office chair, lifted Dipper out in one swoop and set him on the ground to face him. Dipper had never seen him look so angry, however, was still obsessively clutching onto Abbey's journal with no intention of heeding his advice. Although it was not technically hers, it was what they bonded over. It was all that he had left of her in this moment. He finally had someone he could trust other than Mabel. "Abbey would have wanted us to keep fighting."

"What's the point? Don't you understand what has happened Soos? A girl is dead. What we're doing is crazy and dangerous. It always has been. I've just been so wrapped up in trying to figure out what's going on in this town and who wrote the journals, that I've been letting the people I care about pay for all the fallout in my quest for knowledge. Next time, it could be Mabel..." Dipper's argument trailed off, thinking about his sister. It hadn't even happened, and there was no guarantee it would happen, but he could imagine his twin facing some horrible fate in this pursuit. Maybe there was a secret reason he chose adventuring with Abbey over the Mystery Twins. As much as he loved having his sister watch his back and knowing she was fully capable of protecting herself, the loss of his sister was something he could not dream to ever be able to handle. He hadn't even known Abbey that long and yet—

"OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR!"

"What the—"

A brutish voice had yelled at them from the other side. Although, hoping it was Abbey returned from certain death, the voice obviously belonged to an older man. Dipper and Soos didn't hesitate a moment longer, assuming that the robots probably couldn't speak and this was a real man trying to get in. The door lifted to see a greyish bald man, with scars all over and a severely damaged looking left ear, holding Frank the Frog's green arm over his broad shoulder.

"I just tore one of those fucker's arms clean off…" the man stated, throwing down the thin metal arm at their feet. Soos looked amazed, while Dipper tried not to look like he wasn't about to be sick from the shock. "Alright, which one of you is the night watch here?"

Soos cautiously raised his hand and Dipper pointed an accusing finger, like it hadn't been for the most part a rhetorical question.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he shouted, storming over to Soos. "Why is there a child here? By the looks of it, you've already blown through more than fifty percent of your power. It's almost four in the morning, but there are two times the amounts of little shits out there trying to kill you. Did you go through any training whatsoever—?"

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt your angry rant, but who are you? How did you even get in here?" Dipper piped up, his curiosity finally overcoming the fear that had silenced him.

"Mike Schmidt, former night guard at Freddie Fazbear's Pizza." the man replied, crossing his arms, instead of holding out a hand.

"How did you get past the steel doors? Are you some kind of wizard?" Soos questioned, despite still being on a sort of trial himself.

"No! I worked long enough to know how to handle steel doors. They were the least of my problems in that hellhole…" Mike answered.

"Wait, Mike Schmidt? Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Dipper asked, suddenly remembering the man on the phone.

"Where'd you hear a loony thing like that? I wasn't killed, I was fired for 'tampering with the animatronics'. Of course, they were doing a lot more tampering to me than I was to them…"

"What are they like? I mean, what exactly do they do to you?" Dipper inquired. It probably wasn't the best of ideas, but he for some reason just needed the mind-scarring details of what had happened to Abbey after she was dragged into the darkness. He was practically fishing for more guilt by this point.

"It's horrifying. They'll find the room with all the empty suits and do to you exactly what was done to them all those years ago. All that has room to stick out are your eyeballs. The rest is pretty much trashed in the process of trying to shove you into the suit." The images of Abbey's eyes sticking out one of those horrid animatronic suits swam in Dipper's mind and he struggled to push them back and not be sick.

"You've actually escaped that, though? Escaping from them is actually possible?"

"I wouldn't go that far. I've _barely_ escaped and I'm a physically fit kind of guy. I've even had to get stitches on my head," Mike replied, with a bit of a high-and-mighty sort of chuckle. "Your friend here would last even a minute."

In the midst of their talking, they hadn't realize the looming presence approaching from the darkness till it was nearly in the doorway. Before Soos could turn on the lights and see who it was, and before Mike could slam the door in her face, Abbey ran right into both Soos and Dipper, shouting their names in relief of actually getting to see them again. Soos stayed put, being heavy set and more braced, keeping a calm but happy expression. Dipper however toppled over with her, looking so overjoyed and relieved he might cry.

"Abbey! You're alive." he exclaimed, removing her from on top of him, to hug her and spin her around like some kind of trophy he'd won. 'Totally-didn't-get-someone-killed-by-robots' should have a merit badge or something at least, right? "I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"

"It's alright Dipper. I'm fine." She honestly wasn't angry, just very thankful and shocked she was back and alive, as well.

"What happened?"

"He let me go…"

"Really, another child!? What kind of guard are you? What possessed you to take this job? Clearly, you don't have the stomach or sense to handle it right." Mike shouted at Soos, once again.

"Lay off of Soos, alright? Were you really more prepared when you took this job?" Dipper snapped, finally letting go of Abbey and rushing to his friend's defense.

"No…I just got weird messages from the guy who came before me." Mike admitted.

"Huh? That's kind of weird. We got a message too."

"Let's hear it." Mike demanded, taking a seat in the office chair.

Dipper played back the message on answering machine, while Abbey and Soos got back into their positions at the door just in case they were interrupted by some not-so-friendly animatronic guests. When it was over, there was a silent moment before it could be discussed.

"Same guy, almost same exact words too. Although, there was something strangely even more off about him than before…"

"I might be a little late, but who—"

"Mike Schmidt, original night guard at Freddie's. Yes, I'm alive," Mike replied, interrupting and answering all Abbey's impending questions. "Doll and I were actually on vacation here and I heard about these fuckboys being transferred. I tried to stay away from it, but there have been too many accidents already. My stupid conscious got the better of me and I've come to lead you all out."

"We can't leave, though. This will all be in vain, unless we stop them completely. They'll just keep hiring more security guards and the ghosts will just keep killing." Abbey argued.

"You're crazy! Even if you guys watch those ridiculously fake ghost TV shows, it doesn't mean you're experts that can handle these things."

"Look I know we're just kids to you, but we came here to stop those ghosts once and for all and that's what we're going to do. Feel free to sit back and watch." Dipper snapped. He hated when people underestimated him, especially for only being a kid. "Abbey, we might have to use the last resort method…"

It was a black lighted message, only able to be read by putting both of their journals together,

_Blood rituals are only meant to be used on demons and a numerous amount of ghosts that are class eight or greater. To permanently and forcibly expel these unwanted spirits, draw this symbol big enough to trap your subject or subjects, in your human blood, and repeat the phrase written,_

_Aliosque spiritus malignos, dispergeret ._

"Give me a minute to memorize everything and I'll do it." Abbey replied, taking the portable black light and his journal from him. Obviously, he struggled for it back with clear rejection to her decision.

"Abbey, don't. I'll—"

"Don't argue with me Dipper. I've decided," Abbey stated. "They let me go. Now, I've got to do the same."

Dipper sighed, knowing it was useless to fight her on this, yet still was not okay with it. He grudgingly took her spot at the door and she sat with both of their journals and started to memorize the spell and the symbol. After a while, Mike got over his grudging silence and tried to casually swivel up next to her.

"So, you were saying before about one of them letting you go? Were you taken?" he whispered.

"Yes, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the hall and Foxy dragged me off," Abbey answered, simply, still trying to focus on the journal. However, when he unnervingly didn't say anything after that, she curiously looked up. "What?"

"It's just that—that story doesn't add up. I spent enough time with these guys to know that they would _never _try to harm a child, especially Foxy. I know I mouthed of to the large fellow about bringing children here, but you and the boy are actually the only ones who are somewhat safe. They have some sense and humanity in that aspect."

"But—"

"Abbey, are you ready?" Dipper called, noticing her conversation with Mike and assuming that meant she was done memorizing.

"Yeah…"

They jammed a broom against the main light switch they found hidden underneath the desk, so the main room was bathed in phosphorescent light. It was almost time for opening anyway, might as well use whatever power they had left until the main generator was scheduled to turn back on. Now, that everything was visible the robots, obviously confused, looked around until they spotted the troublemakers. Abbey was clutching the third journal and a knife they found in the kitchen, intended for her and not for them. While Soos was duel-wielding salt shakers to fend them off with. Dipper and Mike stood with no weapon, except Mike's sleeves rolled up and he was cracking his knuckles, intending on fighting them bare handed. Dipper, however, was just huddled more towards Abbey intending on protecting her while she did her job, if any of them figured out what she was doing. Mike was sure they wouldn't bother with them, however, Dipper still had the saltshaker from earlier in his pocket just in case.

"Hey, look at me I'm a target! Sure feels good to run around without a suit on." Soos shouted at them. They naturally fell for it and all ran after Soos immediately. Abbey and Dipper ran for the stage, to draw the symbol. However, Mike wasn't about to let Soos have all the fun, or have them all chasing after the overweight guy whose fighting knowledge probably came from playing videogames. He grabbed Bonnie's purple bunny ear and Chica's yellow chick wing as they passed by him and forced them into headlocks. They shrieked in protest, but he was strong and un-phased, being highly trained for this by now.

"Did ya' punks miss me?"

"Oi, Mike the point of exorcising is to not damage the suits and get arrested. Go easy on them." Dipper shouted, from the stage, as he and Abbey had momentarily looked back at the scene to check up on them.

"We're just having a little rough fun. Trust me it'll take a lot more than this to destroy one of these guys."

Abbey wasted no more time, she cut her forearm and started spreading the blood around on the stage floor in the shape that was on the journal page, like a disturbing finger-painting. She got only got through half the main circle before the blood stopped coming out. She slashed it again, cringing a little and continuing on with the new wound.

"Abbey, that's too much..." Dipper remarked, watching her in agony. He tried to take the knife from her, but she kept it steady in her hand.

"It has to be big enough to hold all of them. It's fine." she claimed, with an unsettlingly happy smile. Moments later, she finished, clutching her arm in pain. "Alright guys bring em' down."

Soos led all the ones chasing him, while Mike carried over Bonnie and Chica, personally. Once in the circle there was no escape, they screeched and clawed, but could not break free of the invisible force field that held them there.

"Everyone is accounted for. Now, do it!"

_Aliosque spiritus malignos, dispergeret… Aliosque spiritus malignos, dispergeret...__Aliosque spiritus malignos, dispergeret!_

A bright red light showered over them and with one final death shriek the images of ten children glided up into the air. Unlike the animatronics writhing in agony on the bloody floor and having their life force sucked from their bodies, they all looked quite relieved and grateful. One in particular, a little boy with an eye patch and a pirate hat. He gave Abbey a thankful nod and a grin, before he glided to face Mike, apparently having to say something to him.

_I'm sorry about your ear… _

As they all suddenly vanished, the robots all clunked silent on the floor, finally dead at last. Once the ghostbusters were sure they were actually dead and motionless, they began to rejoice and celebrate their triumphant survival.

"It worked!" Dipper exclaimed, in amazement. "You did it, Abbey!"

"Nice work, kid. It looks like it's finally over," Mike added, giving her a supportive 'ya done good' pat on the shoulder of the arm she was not clutching onto to stop pain and bleeding. Then, he looked over at Dipper, "I guess I should've had more faith in you two."

"Don't worry about it. It's what we do." Abbey replied, grinning at Dipper.

"Let's get out of here. We probably want to be gone, before the cops start showing up." Mike snarled, reverting slightly back into the harsh manor he arrived with. They nodded and walk towards the strange hole in the steel doors Mike had somehow broken in through.

As they got back outdoors, Mike immediately started to walk away into the harsh morning light, back to wherever he came from, giving a small gratified wave as he went. Meanwhile, Dipper, Soos and Abbey started to head for Soos's truck in the mall parking lot.

"Still want to come over?" Dipper inquired to Abbey, as they walked along the empty lined spaces.

"Actually, there's something I really got to do. How about in a few days?" she replied, quickly and slightly nervous.

"Alright, I'll call you."

Dipper strangely took no notice in the nature and tone of her answer, which he ought to have, considering there was a good reason behind it. Abbey quickly ran to a point they could no longer see her, to deal with this matter on her own. Bill Cipher, who had been sleeping throughout the entire night in spite of how crazy it was, woke up yawning as they rounded the corner of the mall.

"Ah, that was a nice nap. What'd I miss?" Bill asked, nonchalantly. Before he had a chance to wake up completely, fully open his eye, or even think, Abbey grabbed him and pinned him on the brick structure of the mall with a fearsome and raged expression, "Whoa, whoa, hey! What're you doing, Babydoll?"

"You engineered all of that, didn't you, you evil little triangle?" she growled. She had figured it out a while ago, but could not confront the demon when Dipper and Soos were with her and he was in a fake slumber. This mystery was to convenient to just be a coincidence. He played the doe-eye innocent look for a moment longer, before deciding to drop it and glare back at her.

"…What gave me away?"

"Leading me to this mystery, the phone call, the voice in my head, Foxy not stuffing me in the suit. You don't sleep. You're a dream demon. You've been living on my shoulder for about a month, did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Abbey growled in anger, "I know you."

"Geez, a simple 'Thanks for saving my life, Bill' would've sufficed, ya' know. If it had been the real ghost, it would've killed you." Bill replied, choosing to ignore her other accusations and act like the hero who had saved her from being stuffed into a suit filled with crossbeams and wires.

"The real ghost was just a kid without control. Mike was sure that if it was the real Foxy he wouldn't have even taken me in the first place. You were the one that was trying to make him kill me, he was holding you back," Abbey snapped. How could she have been so blind, let this thing into her life and make such a deal. She knew he was trouble, but she had hoped…"You're pure evil, aren't you? You don't actually want to help me or care about what happens to me in all of this. You've just been using me this entire time to get closer to Dipper and Mabel yourself. I never should've trusted you!"

"Well, that was obvious," he replied, simply. Bill did not sound the least bit worried he had been exposed and Abbey was now free to run to Dipper and tell him of his intentions. He and Soos were even still in the parking lot, not too far away. One horrified shriek from the little girl and they could be there in minutes. Despite all that, he was composed, "You aren't going to stop, though."

"Why not?"

"I need you, Pine Tree and Shooting Star. Separate, you're all just nuisances in my plans. However, together, you three hold the key to me getting everything I want," Bill replied. He got out of her grip easily, by merely sliding up the wall she was holding him too, and returned to his original size. Abbey stepped back, but did not run. She could not run. He made sure. "and I won't let you ruin that."

She was suddenly surrounded in that bright blue energy he used. And, as desperately as she tried to hold onto the key information she'd just learned, Abbey stood no chance against the demonic powers that were willing her to forget. Her eyes rolled back, glowing somehow an even brighter blue, almost white, and she shrieked in agonizing pain. Thankfully, since it was only one memory he needed her to forget, it only took a few moments and she was seemingly back to her normal old self.

"Are you alright, Bill?" Abbey inquired, looking down at the demon with a concerned, innocent expression.

"Never better, Babydoll." Bill replied. He had no mouth to express emotions with, but his eye shined with a happy satisfaction.

"Abbey! Are you alright? I thought I heard screaming..."

It was Dipper, just like Bill had predicted, who upon hearing Abbey scream had come running across the parking lot to save her from certain doom.

"Hey Dipper! I'm totally fine. It was nothing…"Abbey stated, immediately. Her hand wandered over her neck, as if confused about what had come out of her throat and trying to stop more words from coming up. The words had just seem to fall out. In fact, she didn't even remember screaming in the first place… "Also, I've decided maybe another sleepover is a good thing. To be honest I'm still a bit shaken up and my aunt is going kill me if she sees me come home covered in blood again."

"Yeah, sure. Grunkle Stan can probably patch you up with no questions asked. He's strangely good at treating wounds." Dipper added. They arrived back at Soos's truck, him waving from the front seat, and went to the window to tell him of the change of plan.

"Mind if we stop at my house first, Soos? My aunt should be out at work and I should be able to sneak in and get Mr. Rainbows and my stuff without being interrogated." Abbey asked, after Dipper briefly exclaimed how she was staying over after all.

"No problem, girl dude. Hop in!" Soos answered, chipper and upbeat.

After retrieving a unicorn companion and the typical overnight bag from Abbey's house and a drive-through at the local fast food joint for sustenance, they soon were driving down the road to the Mystery Shack. Soos with a soda and fries, not caring about the consequences and trying to drive with Mr. Rainbows on his lap, sticking his head out the window. While, Abbey and Dipper were sleeping on each other's shoulders, totally adventured out for one night and not caring about compromising positions and cuddling. For the moment everything was peaceful and quiet. However, little did they know that triangular demon that was currently cuddled up between them, pretending to sleep like he had been all night, was about to make his move and they were taking him exactly where he wanted to go.

All this was just a little calm before the storm.


	7. Beyond the Vending Machine

Chapter 7

Beyond the Vending Machine

They tip-toed into the dead silent shack through the kitchen door, trying not to wake the sleeping patrons. However, with one flick of unnatural light, the room was flooded to reveal Stan Pines sitting at the table poised on exposing them. Although, this was bad, being caught red-handed and all, at least Stan was wearing pants. After the rough night they had just endured, the last thing they wanted was to be yelled at by a fat old guy in his boxers. Considering the time and that being his usual attire around the house, this was kind of a rare occurrence. He must've been expecting to have this high-and-mighty confrontation and decided to actually be at the least dressed for the occasion.

"Well, well, well…Where exactly have you three been prowling at the crack of dawn?"

"Hey, Stan. So, Abbey kind of fell off her bike and gashed her arm pretty badly on the way over here. Soos and I just drove out to rescue her and stuff. Do you mind patching her up? K, thanks, bye!" Dipper replied, speedily, as he and Soos were already beginning to make a break for the stairs, before he could even react. Abbey, having no excuse and having been just thrown to the wolves because of her injury, sat down at the kitchen table, stuck there. Stan sighed and went to grab the first aid kit from one of the cabinets.

"Alright, I'm stupid but I'm not entirely stupid. What really happened?" he asked, as he pulled up a chair and set the box down on the table. Abbey obviously didn't answer and just let him start to swab the dried blood off her arm in silence. According to Dipper and Bill, Mr. Pines was somewhat mixed up with the journals and all the supernatural stuff going on in town. However, Dipper at least, didn't exactly know why or how and didn't question it, for once. He didn't really want to create more tension between him and his great uncle. Stan didn't want Dipper to go searching for answers and Dipper had promised that he would stop, which was an obvious lie. Clearly, speaking would not be wise in this situation. "Not talking, eh? I think I know what's going on here? That idiotic kid got you mixed up with his crazy conspiracies, didn't he? I told him not to—"

"Mr. Pines, exactly how much do you know about all this?" Abbey blurted out, in retaliation. The jig was obviously up and she couldn't stand not having answers anymore. What exactly did Stan Pines know about all the crazy stuff in this town?

"Look, all I'm going to say is, that I know a lot more than you kids and I know how dangerous all this stuff can be. You have absolutely no idea what you're getting yourself into, kid—"

"Is keeping all of us in the dark and lying really so much better? We go around you to get the answers for ourselves and end up getting into more danger," Abbey snapped, suddenly surging with anger. "You have no idea how far I've gone to get answers. Dipper too. We're both too far in to be expected to just simply give up because you told us too."

"Excuse you, missy, _you_ don't know how far _I've_ come. What I've done to try and fix my mistakes. It's because of this supernatural junk that I lost the two people most important to me," Stan shouted back, stopping wrapping her arm to slam his fist down on the table. "I'm not about to go losing any kids, that includes you."

"Why can't you just tell me what happened? What's so bad that you can't tell me?"

"That's exactly what Carla said, before…"He looked less like a stone faced angry old man for a second. His expression flashed in pain as he remembered a conversation with a girl he used to know a long time ago. The moment past quickly though, he finished wrapping her arm, and then simply got up from the table to leave, "Look, after tonight, consider yourself gone, forbidden from this house. I don't want to see your face around here for the rest of the summer."

"You can't forbid me from seeing my friends!"

"You can see them, once summer is over. Talk to them on the train home, do what you want, once you all leave town. But as long as you three remain in Gravity Falls, it's dangerous for you to be together. You're poisoning Dipper's mind—"

"I haven't done anything to change who Dipper is! Even before I came along, all he has ever wanted is to find the author of the journals and I just happen to want the same thing." Abbey shouted, jumping out of the chair to catch him before he ran away.

"Neither of you will ever find the author, so stop looking. Trust me," Stan muttered, glaring at her with such a ferocity, Abbey thought she even felt Bill jumped up a bit. She ran back to the table, away from the monstrous man. He sighed and eased up a little, realizing he was being a little too harsh on her and frightening her half to death, "Look, it's all for your own protection. And his. I'm sorry. My word is final…"

He left Abbey there in the kitchen, seemingly alone and a bit teary eyed. An adult yelling at you is never a pleasant experience, most of the time it upsets you no matter the subject matter of the argument. Abbey was also a bit paralyzed with fear, when Stan had said that she and Dipper should stop looking for the author. She'd never seen him get that angry before. Abbey only regained ability to move and think, after a pinch on her right cheek from Bill.

"Bill, what do I do?" Abbey remarked, immediately turning to the only person, or in this case thing, that she had with the power to help her. She needed to find the answers and end this quest for the author once and for all. To do that she needed Stan Pines out of the way.

"Well, I do have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it..." Bill stated. Abbey really didn't like the sound of that but, at this point, she was desperate enough to try anything.

"Sneak into Stan's office and get blackmail on him? Bill, are you crazy?"

"Quite possibly." Bill beamed, even though the real answer was 'most definitely'. Despite her objections, they were already standing at the door. He had already pushed her this far. Now, he just needed to push her a little bit more. "Look, Pine Tree said to occupy ourselves while Stan's forcing him and Mabel to work and, hey, what a perfect thing to do in our spare time."

"What do you think we could possibly find in there that Dipper and Mabel don't already know about? They're not exactly strangers to the tax fraud and various arrests of their great uncle."

"Let's just find out…"

"I don't like this, Bill…" Abbey stated as they started walking into the dimly lit office space. It gave her an oddly ominous feeling of being watched, which was a rare feeling for her to get since she'd been under consent surveillance for a while now. There were various objects it could've possibly been, the owl by the door, the Jackalope on the wall, or the portrait of Stan Pines behind his desk, "There's literally books on how to get away with fraud and embezzlement on the bookshelf. There's nothing in here we can use against him."

"Check your journal, maybe it can give us some clues. Wasn't there schematics on the house somewhere in there?"

"Was there? I don't remember," Abbey questioned, flipping through the musty pages to find what Bill was talking about. Sure enough, he was right. In the authors neat script was a diagram of the Mystery Shack's interior and quick little sentences about what lied within the walls unseen. "That's odd. Now, why would the author have schematics on the Mystery Shack unless—"

"—it was his house? Good question, Babydoll. You've almost got it."

"Stan Pines is the author!"

"Evidence would seem that way, but you're probably still going to want to check around and find something more concrete to show Pine Tree." Bill reasoned, knowing that she wasn't really right, but she was getting there.

"According to this, there should be a secret compartment behind the Jackalope head," She lifted the downward antler upright again and a secret compartment was revealed. On the first shelf, there was a TV monitor, playing live feed of the Mystery Shack gift shop. Dipper was working the counter, laughing with Wendy about something, while Mabel and Soos were putting new snacks in the vending machine, secretly sneaking a few for everyone to share later. Below that, there was a VHS player, with old tapes on the shelf below. The last shelf held a large box, which contents could only be seen by taking it out and looking inside. Abbey's curiosity was overtaking her sense of morality, as she kneeled down and pulled it out, "What's all this? A box full of fake I.D's—"

Abbey gasped and dropped the paper she had been holding that had obviously caused her to go silent in shock. Something a million times more shocking than a box full of thousands of different identities was a piece of newspaper that had been cut out with the headline,

"_Stan Pines Dead"_

"If Stan Pines is dead, who is that outside giving tours?" she asked, weakly. She honestly didn't know what to say, or how to properly process this. It was more than she planned on digging up when she came in here to snoop and not exactly what she wanted to be the one to find.

"Mr. Mystery."

"Very funny, Bill. Don't you realize Dipper and Mabel have been living with the ultimate con man all summer? He's not even their real uncle!"

"Well, it looks like we found our blackmail," Bill replied, simply. However, he hovered down closer to the box, as if there was more in there yet to be uncovered. Also in the box was a tiny scrap of paper with some seemingly random boxed numbers and letters. Bill's eye got fixed upon it instantly, gluing the code into his mind. It was just the thing he had been looking for, "and you found me this…"

"What's that?" Abbey inquired. The top of the paper was covered and all she could see was A1, B, C3. She was about to see if there was any more to it, when Bill stopped her.

"Nothing, Babydoll. Just a little something for me."

"I have to go tell Dipper and Mabel right away. Forget about stupid blackmail this is something they have to know." Abbey remarked, rushing to her feet and grabbing the newspaper clippings and a handful of fake I.D's. she didn't want to have to tell them that pretty much their 'uncle' has been lying to them all summer and was not who he seems. It was unavoidable, though. They deserved to know this. However, like usual, Bill had his own agenda and his own plans.

"Oh, we aren't taking this to Pine Tree and Shooting Star…"

"_That's weird where'd Abbey run off too."_

Dipper had just ended up back in the den after searching throughout the Mystery Shack for Abbey. Where could she have gone? He had just sunk down into the chair with Mabel, who was deeply entranced by a new episode of Ducktective, when he noticed something he had glossed over in his initial search. He got up again and retrieved a note that was tacked to the edge of the table in a horribly messy script,

_Dear __Pine __Dipper,_

_Have gone to the store for gold, be back in 6 hours 45 minutes and 17 seconds. Meet me by the vending machine at 12:45am._

_Love ya, Abbs_

"Okay...We might want to check that wound when she gets back. I think she's gone a little wonky from all the blood loss." Dipper remarked, knowing Mabel had actually pulled away to read the note over his shoulder.

"Dipper, do you even hear yourself? You should've never gotten her in a situation where blood loss was even a possibility! What's the matter with you?"

"Look, I know it's gotten really bad lately, but we're just so close, Mabel. I can feel it," Dipper explained. His twin looked skeptical and worried. "Trust me, all of this is about to pay off."

"I had no problem with you dating my friend, in fact I encouraged it, but I didn't know this would be the outcome." Mabel snapped.

"For the last time, we're not dating. She needed a friend and I just wanted someone who I could trust, someone who would do whatever it takes to uncover this towns mysteries," Dipper argued. "She came with her own journal and was already searching for the answers. How could I possibly have ignored someone like that?"

"Why didn't you just trust me, Dipper? I'm your sister. It used to be just us chasing down mysteries, before she came along. We're the Mystery Twins!" Mabel argued back. "There's no one you can trust more than me."

"I know you're right, it's just—it is getting more dangerous—and I don't want to lose you. After what happened to Wendy in the bunker, I know I wouldn't be able to handle it if anything were to happen to you," Dipper admitted. "I'm sorry, Mabel."

"You aren't going to lose me. I promise," Mabel assured him, confidently. She grinned at him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder and he soon saw how foolish it was to count Mabel out of all this because he was scared. It was also wrong for him to just use Abby as some kind of disposable pawn. Even though he claimed they were partners and friends, she was kind of becoming more of like a replacement for his sister that he would care significantly less about if she died in her place. That sounded like something Bill would do and Dipper was better than that. Abbey was better than that. "From now on, it's the three of us in this crazy mess together, okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright, my first action as a co-captain of the newly formed Mystery Squad, third wheeling a totally secret, definitely-100%-not-just-a-lame-cover-for-a-date, by the vending machine tonight." Mabel declared, standing up in the chair as if she were making some big important speech, "Don't say it! Dipper, she's sooooo in to you. Stop being a dork and take a hint."

"Sppsh, what even? Did she tell you that, like, where is this even coming from—?" Dipper clamored, nervously. He hadn't really thought about Abbey in that way, because he met her in the midst of still trying to get over his intense feelings for Wendy. Dipper claimed he was terrible at talking to girls, yet unbeknownst to him, until this moment, he'd been talking to one with no problem whatsoever for weeks now. Unlike with Wendy, he didn't worry about saying the wrong thing and coming off lame, or making an overly complicated list just to say five words to her. "She is kind of cute…"

"I knew it!"

They waited in their room, till it was the time of the strange calling card they received from Abbey, trying desperately to keep themselves occupied. Dipper literally had to tackle Mabel over a dangerous temptatious packet of Smile Dip, which had been found forgotten under her bed, and hide it so she would not be tempted. They had to do this thing the old fashion way, considering they probably wanted to be somewhat lucid when they went to go meet Abbey. There were a couple rounds of indoor golf, some summer reading, and a few board games from the closet that kept them busy for most of the time. After those things ran out, it was eventually almost time to go. They were just about to head out when, very suddenly, Mr. Rainbows came galloping in from the dark hallway, whimpering in shivers.

"What is it, boy? Where's Abbey?" Mabel asked, as if the creature could talk back and tell her.

"I don't like this…" Dipper added. Mr. Rainbows curled up on his feet, for protection from the unknown horror he had induced. Not only was his state one of incredible fear, Dipper was more than slightly concerned that his mistress was not with him. He leaned down to pick up the shaking unicorn and talk to him like Mabel did, "Come on, we're going to go find Abbey. Can you light the way for us?"

"Ah, unicorn flashlight! So cute."

Dipper set Mr. Rainbows back on the ground when his horn started to glow an iridescent pink and he started to guide them to where he had last seen Abbey. While they walked downstairs to the gift shop, Dipper silently prayed that they'd just see her standing by the vending machine, completely unharmed. However, that was probably not the case. Just his very hopeful thinking.

"Dipper, look at that!" Mabel shouted, immediately upon the trio entering the gift shop.

The two gasped as they both gazed upon a peculiar sight. Abbey wasn't there, but vending machine was wide open like a door and down in the ominous blue glow was a secret staircase into god only knows where. There was a few slapping of each other's faces, to make sure they weren't dreaming or had fallen victim to Smile Dip poisoning after all, but once they finished with that they discovered it was real alright. The two had been working in the gift shop for most of summer, sometimes staring at the machine in utter boredom, stocking it with new snacks, and buying many for themselves, completely unaware there was something like this hidden just on the other side. More secrets and, quite possibly, all the answers.

"This must be what Abbey's trying to show us." Dipper exclaimed, trying to sound certain, smart and brave, like usual. However, Mr. Rainbows had begun shaking at Dipper's feet again, indicating he already had seen something bad down there and Dipper should not follow it.

"When did she have the time to figure this out?" Mabel questioned.

"I don't know…" he replied. He hadn't known her long, but he knew her well enough to know when she figured something out she told him immediately. One time she woke him up at three in the morning just to tell him that she figured out the author's first name started with an 'S'. "It doesn't make any sense. I know she would've told me something about this the second she found out. She wouldn't have waited this late."

"If this really is what Abbey wanted us to see, then, where is she? Do you think someone got her and dragged her down there?"

"There's only one way to find out..."

Dipper picked up the chubby unicorn off his feet, so he could lead them all down to what was probably hell. The walls along the staircases were old and cracked, showing signs of not being touched by the several remodeling jobs the shack had to endure over this summer alone. At the end was an old freight elevator, to lead them even further down. With some caution, they entered and pushed the lever all the way down. It was an agonizing, seemingly endless, wait to the bottom, but eventually the elevator dinged to a stop. There was another as expected gasp, as the doors automatically slid open to reveal a lab with different lights, machines and buttons all around. Behind the glass was a giant triangular machine, with different symbols around the ring. It had the same feeling as the bunker, where it was hard to tell whether you were in the future or the past. Mabel took Mr. Rainbows into the room to investigate, but Dipper remained frozen in the elevator still trying to process what he was seeing. However, he regained mobility upon seeing the objects lying on the desk by the window. Three maroon books.

"The journals!" Dipper shouted, slightly shocked, but mostly enraged by the discovery. "Stan's the one who took them. That's why Gideon wanted the shack so badly. All along he's had the 1st journal and this crazy machine! Wait a minute—"

He opened each of the books to a diagram like page that had been bookmarked, except for Abbey's. Her journal had a drawing of the machine as a whole, so he set that off to the side to black light separately,

_I was wrong the whole time! The machine was meant to create knowledge, but it is to powerful! I was deceived and now it is too late. The device if fully operational could tear our universe apart! It must not fall into the wrong hands. If the clock ever reaches zero our universe is doomed._

_Total global destruction!_

As if the world splitting into wasn't imagery enough, in Abbey's journal was a crude painting of Bill over the portal.

"Abbey! Abbey!" Dipper shouted, begging she would answer him to fill in some of this mystery. Considering she had found this out in the first place, surely she had more answers than they did. Where was she? Suddenly, he spotted her. Abbey and Stan were lying unconscious on the other side of the glass, all to near to the strange portal that would apparently cause world destruction. "Oh my god…"

He immediately pushed a button near the metal door to the room and it slid open. Dipper, along with Mr. Rainbows, rushed across the threshold to Abbey's side, thinking she was just an innocent victim in all this, while his 'great uncle' was the culprit. Even though he was knocked out too, he had enough evidence against him right now to convince Dipper that he was the bad guy in all of this. He shook her to try and get her to wake up and thankfully she stirred. Mr. Rainbows kept tight to Dipper's side, seemingly glaring his small beady eyes at her. Her eyes were beginning to slowly flutter open.

"Abbey! There you are. What is all this? When did you—"

All too suddenly, like these things usually are, she was kissing him into silence. Dipper was frazzled by the sudden attack, wondering stupid things like what he should do with his hands, rather than 'is this really the time and place to do this?'. Dipper never imagined what his first kiss would be like, that was what girls did, but kneeled down in front of a giant machine that could bring about the end of the world any moment know was obviously not how he pictured it. Then again, he had also not imagined it would've technically been with a merman, which Mabel liked to claim was his first kiss, but he obviously did not count. This was nothing like giving reverse CPR to a merman to save his life. He felt a surge of giddiness and courage, like when she pulled away he would be able to do anything. Defeat his great uncle, stop the machine, and save the world.

Unfortunately, it was only for a moment that was soon ended.

"_I have to say you're not too bad a kisser, Pine Tree."_

"Pine Tree?" Dipper repeated, sounding a little confused. There was only one thing that ever called him by that name. He pushed Abbey away, suddenly realizing she was not herself, but an all-powerful creature from hell. She fully opened her eyes to reveal they were a glowing a light yellow he knew all too well and she was laughing with a high pitched voice that he had only heard in his worst nightmares, "Oh god, no."

"Hahahahaha, did ya' miss me? Admit it, you missed me." Bill laughed, smiling and stabbing Abbey's forefinger into her cheek trying to be ironically cute, like he probably would've done even if he weren't possessing her body. "That kiss should've got me back inside your body without another deal, but you decided to bring that little vermin with you. Smart thinking, Pinetree."

Dipper was still too disgusted and horrified to speak, so Bill continued on talking without him.

"Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter too much. Don't I make a cute girl? Want to kiss me again?

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Dipper added, spitting upon the ground, his stomach lurching. His first kiss was just with Bill Cipher, or Babbey, which was a billion times worse than kissing a merman. The power and courage he thought she had given him was just Bill trying to get back into his mind. Abbey never wanted to kiss him and was helpless to stop the demon from using her body how he pleased, wherever she was. Dipper glared at Babbey, while she continued to laugh at his misfortune and disgust, "Get out of her body. Now."

"Sheesh, relax. I don't really get what all the fuss is about. There's really no difference between me and your precious Abbey. We've been practically the same person this whole time."

"What are you playing at, Cipher?"

"I've been sitting tight and cozy on her shoulder for a month now, telling her what to do and what to say, how to act around Dipper Pines to get his trust."Bill explained. "You like what I've done with her, Pine Tree? I made her especially for you."

"That's a sick lie! Abbey would've had to have made—"

"A deal. She made one. Of course, I don't blame her, given your extreme paranoia. You would have never fully trust her without my help and, meanwhile, I got her to fully trust in me," Bill sneered, triumphantly. It had really been all too easy for him. Dipper was paralyzed by his emotions again, except this time the dominating emotion was rage. First his great uncle, now Abbey. They had both lied and betrayed him. All this time she'd never said a word about having his worst enemy tagging along on her shoulder wherever she went. Wherever they went, Bill went too. How could she have done that to him? Although, he had made a deal with Bill before, his was for answers. Dipper believed what he did was somewhat justified and he had learned his lesson. This was a different story. It was a stupid mistake, with no excuse. "Both Abbey and her journal belong to me now. She is mine and I'll use her to destroy all the journals."

"Why do you want the journals destroyed?"

"None of your business," Bill snapped. "I just need you three to fetch the three Ford has spread across different universes for me, so there's nothing in the world that can stop me."

"Wait—what?"

Suddenly, Mabel and Mr. Rainbows came running in and slammed Babbey in the back of the head with a shovel, which if she hadn't been possessed by a nightmare demon, might've killed her. However, she merely turned around and scowled at Mabel.

"You monster! Give Abbey back and stop hurting the people I care about!" Mabel yelled.

It was a mistake to go against Bill, especially when they were this close to something so dangerous. He didn't have all his powers, but he had enough to power it up again, thanks to Stan's hard work. The portal started glowing a bright blue almost white light and harsh winds began trying to suck things inside of it. Once Bill was satisfied, he grabbed Mabel and shoved her behind the yellow and black caution line. Slowly, she began to float, travelling towards the portal.

"Mabel! No!" Dipper shouted. He rushed to find something that he could save her with, but there was nothing in the surrounding area he could find. She was starting to be enveloped by the white blue light. Not able to think of what else to do, he rushed behind the line himself and grabbed her hands.

"Don't let go…"

"I won't! I promise."

"Ugh, what's going on?" Stan was just starting to come through, his eyes slowly drooping back open. However, he immediately had to wake up and rush into action when he saw the scene. The portal had become active earlier than he had planned and his great niece and nephew were behind the caution line, slowly sinking in, "Kids!"

"Bye-bye, Pine Tree. Into the parallel universe machine, to fetch me those journals." Bill smiled, waving good bye as Dipper started to sink into the machine as well. Normally, he would've just pushed them completely in, end all this tension and suspense and just get it over with. But, where was the fun in that? He turned to Stan with a big maniacal grin, he could finally have now in a vessel, "How's it feel to watch this scene again, Stanley."

"What are you?" he growled, being smart enough to know it was not Abbey talking to him. She didn't know that name and she didn't know what happened to his brother. No one did. So, she had to be something else in this moment.

"Bill Cipher, associate of your dear departed brother. If I see him, I'll tell him you said hi." Bill replied, waving good bye to him now. It was Abbey's turn to go. He jumped in backwards, so he could see the horrified look on Stanley Pines face as he once again lost his entire family.


	8. As the World Falls Down

Chapter 8

As the World Falls Down

Abbey suddenly awoke on a dusty hill surrounded by sparse, dead-yet-strangely-sparkly-desert plants, in a plain more than just, very, very far away. She was dimensions away from Dipper, Mabel and Gravity Falls, Oregon. Everything she had just ruined and everything she just lost. However, it's not like she could remember all that. The demon that was just in her mind, controlling her, made sure to wipe the place clean after he left. Abbey was only allowed to remember what _he_ wanted her too, which was pretty much nothing, considering he wanted this all to be somewhat of an entertaining affair. Also, the demon couldn't have her too determined and driven to find the Pines twins. He knew it would be her sole objective if she had her memories, she'd find a way out of this dimension, and he'd never get what he wanted. So, he completely cleaned the slate. Abbey couldn't remember her own name. She had a head-splitting headache that she could barely think through, let alone try to remember who she was or what she was doing here. Naturally, Abbey was to distracted to notice the culprit of all this pain was hovering right besides her, until he spoke up,

"You know I really do like you, but unfortunately I like myself even more."

She recoiled at the sight of another person in this otherwise vast hill of dead things. There was a man sitting beside her just a few inches off the ground, his arms hugging his knees and gazing out into the horizon with the only eye he had.

"Who are you?" she shrieked, not bothering on hiding how surprised she felt waking up next to a strange stranger in a strange place. He was not only floating, but wearing a tuxedo in the middle of the day in a field. His hair was spikey and blonde and he had a dark triangular patch covering his right eye. A very odd look based off the creature he usually was.

"It was for the best to clear your memories, since you would've breezed through this thing if I hadn't. However, I feel I will grow rather tired having to give you exposition every five minutes," Bill sighed. Yes, the first stop on this interdimensional road trip was to the kingdom of the Labyrinth. In their universe it was an 80's musical movie that Abbey and Mabel were obsessed with, however, it was actually a universe along with most things they made movies and TV series off of these days. Hollywood is a vastly uncreative place, just a bunch of people selling their souls for glimpses into other worlds they can use for cooperate gain. Jim Henson had a huge debt with Bill, back in his day.

Since this kingdom's abandonment, almost thirty years ago, he had kind of taken over the role as king of this dimension. Bill got to have his own human form here, as a perk for claiming royalty, and since he looked so much like Jareth the goblins didn't even notice he had gone. He didn't do much to the Labyrinth since the old king's reign. He changed it around a bit and added a few characters from a little town in another dimension he'd grown rather fond of. However, if he wanted to finally get the full value of this place, he needed Abbey's help, "Let just say, I'm the new Goblin King."

"What happened to the old one?" she asked, curiously.

"He got defeated by a fifteen year old girl and hasn't been seen since," Bill replied, with a bit of a chuckle. Not only was it a pitiful defeat, but considering how well the real Abbey knew the story, her asking of the question was funny to him. When she understandably didn't laugh with him, he looked over at her intent gaze with much suspicion, "Don't get any bright ideas. You try anything funny in this world and you'll never see Pinetree and Shooting Star again."

"Who?"

"Never mind that now. Listen, if you want to get your memories back and go back home all you have to do is solve the Labyrinth. They're in the castle, just beyond the goblin city." Bill explained, like it was as easy distracting Soos with a laser pointer.

"Labyrinth? What labyrinth?" Abbey inquired, until she had actually taken a look at the golden horizon. Beyond the hill was a magnificent maze of twists and turns, with a humongous castle lying at the center of it. It had to span on for miles, "Oh. That one."

"Oi, this is going to take a while." Bill sighed, in frustration, slapping himself on his new prominent forehead. He might've gone a little overboard on wiping her memory, "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth, before you'll get turned into a goblin and get stuck here forever. 'Such a pity', as my predecessor would say. Have fun, Babydoll. I'm counting on you."

He disappeared with a pop and Abbey was left on the windswept hill to begin this magical quest alone.

"Well, I guess I should get started…"

She made her way down through the sparkly spider webs and sparse dessert plants, until the ground leveled out and she approached the first of many walls she would encounter. Abbey took one look at it and got stuck. There was no entrance. She looked around for assistance, when she saw a small dwarvish creature, hunched over counting gold coin pieces in the dirt. He had a big nose, with ears to match, and fez hiding his greying bald spot of hair.

"Excuse me." Abbey stated, walking over to him.

"NO REFUNDS—oh, never mind. It's only you." He immediately started to get back to his coins and ignore her. However, Abbey wasn't going to give up that quickly. She could be as stubborn as he was.

"Can you tell me how to get in, sir?"

"Get in where?"

"Into the Labyrinth."

"What labyrinth?"

"Really? The one we're standing right next to, you frustrating little troll!" Abbey hissed, losing her composure. She didn't have time for this.

"I'm not a troll. The name is Stan." the creature reported, adjusting his fez and standing up to shake her hand. Abbey shook it and was immediately overcome by a warm, familiar feeling. He picked up his coins and put them in a sack tied around his belt, "You really want to go in? Fine. Don't blame me when you die, though."

He snapped his fingers and one for the walls slid open to reveal the entrance to the Labyrinth. They both peered inside, looked left, looked right. Both directions looked endless and were shrouded in an eerie sort of mist. Also, like everything else in this land, incredibly sparkly.

"Are you really going in there? It doesn't seem like it's worth it." Stan questioned, gazing into the horror of the unknown.

"I'm afraid I have too," Abbey sighed. Her memories were in the goblin city and she just had to get them back no matter what. She didn't know how she planned on getting through the dangerous maze all on her own without them, but she had to at least try. She didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling there was something, or someone, she really needed get back too. "If you're really that worried about me, you could come with."

"As if. I'm not stupid. Helping you has got to be an instant bogging for sure."

"But you've already helped me."

"Did not. I just needed to open the door to get some more merchandise to sell to those stupid goblins. They'll buy anything." Stan argued, trying to play it off like he didn't actually do anything.

"Thanks for not helping me." she smiled at him. He would not go in with her, but if it weren't for him she'd be stuck around the perimeter desperately looking for the way in for hours, probably. She didn't know how smart she was before her memories were lost, but she was hoping it was smarter than this cause so far she was doing an abysmal job solving this labyrinth. However, though she was questioning her smarts, Abbey was looking up at the sky a little. Why else would he feel the need to lie about helping her if there wasn't someone listening?

"Whatever."

The second Abbey stepped inside, the doors slammed shut behind her. She looked back for Stan, but unfortunately there was nothing but stone there. Slowly she began to walk, with no clue as to where she was going. Abbey stayed along the inner wall, with a small plan as to how she was going to at least find a place to turn, until suddenly there was a gap. It looked like it was solid, but her arm was sinking through it. Her plan was more ingenious then she thought. It turns out the turns were hidden.

"This place is weird…"

Luckily solving that riddle, she started to reach a new part of the Labyrinth. In this part the turns were no longer hidden, but everywhere and she soon had to come up with a new strategy. Abbey couldn't think, whether it was from the loss of her memories, or just her stupidity, she was not sure. With no other plan, she kept going where her gut lead her, arriving at dead ends no matter where she turned. After a while and yet another turn to nowhere, Abbey let out a frustrated groan and stopped to think harder on how to logically solve this. However, in the midst of her thinking she noticed, this time at least, she wasn't alone. Abbey looked to her right to find a set of doors that definitely had not been sitting there before. These doors had four heads, two on each, one on the bottom and one at the top. The top ones were wearing large glasses and fedoras, with a small slip of paper tucked in them saying, 'HAT'. Their faces were sunken into eternal frowns and had blank stares. The bottom ones looked the same, except appeared to be smiling and turning blue from all the blood rushed to their heads.

"Oh god, what ugly doors." Abbey exclaimed, bluntly, not caring she was speaking right in front of them in a normal tone of voice.

"Well fine, then I guess we won't tell you that one of us leads to the castle and the other one of us leads to certain death. Now, you've got to figure out that mystery on your own." the left door huffed, angry and obviously insulted.

"You just told me, though."

"Drat!"

"Fine, but you'll never guess which door it is. One of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies." the right door explained, haughtily.

"I can't even remember my own name, how on earth am I supposed to figure out which one of you is lying?" Abbey reasoned, clearly frustrated. None of this was fair. This whole place was unfair. The Goblin King had said if she had her she would've breezed through this thing, but only an insane person could possibly understand how to get around in such a place. A literal choice between achieving her goal and death, who does that? Abbey turned away, obviously not planning one choosing either of them. She would rather find another way, there had to be a way around them. There was way too much risk and, considering what she had to lose by not making it to the goblin city, she'd rather not take it. Also, those doors looked gross and she really didn't want to have to touch them, "I think I'm just going to go that way."

"Come back here!"

Abbey ran away through more twists and turns to get away, only to end up right in front of those doors. They waved hello, but she simply ran a new direction. She ran back the way she came from the beginning and took the secret turn the other way she had not taken. However, it ended up leading her right back to those hideously ugly doors.

"Why is this happening me?" Abbey inquired, to the heavens more than the doors.

"The only way out is to choose one of us." the left door explained.

"But I really don't want to. You both look like certain death." Abbey admitted, bluntly.

"Oh no, she's figured out our ruse!" the right door exclaimed.

"Wait, so I have nowhere to go but death? That's not fair." Abbey huffed, in further frustration. She sunk to the ground, defeated. What exactly was she supposed to do?

"This place isn't fair, kid. Just pick one and suffer the consequences."

The short dwarf who let her in had appeared leaning up against the wall, looking very exasperated. Abbey looked relieved, even though he had said such cruel things, while the doors looked worried of the girl's new companion.

"You followed me?" Abbey questioned, with a small grateful smile. "I thought you said you didn't want to help."

"I didn't, but then I saw that ring you were wearing and figured it'd be something worth getting my hands on," Stan explained, as he walked over to her and the doors. "I'm a man who enjoys fine treasures."

"Ring?" Abbey questioned. She held up both her hands in front of her and surely enough on her left ring finger was a silver ring with a honey colored stone.

"Clearly, it doesn't mean a thing to you. So, if you give me the ring I'll take you to the goblin city."

"Fine." Abbey agreed, yanking the ring off her finger, without much care or hesitation, and handing it to him. She didn't know what it was to her, but if it was actually something important, the only way she'd find out was when she and Stan reached the castle beyond the goblin city and got her memories back. He could get her there. He probably knew the way, or was at least more adept to finding it then she was, "So, how do we get passed these two?"

"Alright, first lesson you should learn is that you shouldn't trust anyone in this place. One of these doors really does lead to the goblin city," Stan explained, stepping closer to the left door. The door's face cowered before him, but was powerless from stopping him from pulling on the handle, "You're only allowed to choose one. However, I can choose the other one."

Abbey nodded, silently saying she understood him and got up to grab the right door's handle.

"1, 2, 3. Now!" They opened the doors at the same time to reveal which one led to the castle. Abbey's led to a brick wall, while Stan's led to the garbage heap right outside the gates of the goblin city, "This is it. Let's go!"

The second they stepped into the heaps of garbage they sunk through a trap. Bill would not be tricked so easily and was sending them into the oubliettes. Abbey and Stan were falling through a channel of greenish hands slowly handing them down to the bottom.

"Woah, woah, watch the hands!" Stan shouted, slapping many of them away. Suddenly obliging, they all let go and the two began accelerating down at a faster rate. There was a long terrified pitch, until they were both dropped onto the dirt ground of a dim lit cave. Stan got a candle and a match from his belt, so they could light the way and try to find a way out. The second the candle was lit, they immediately came face-to face with a pair of red eyes and gnarly teeth.

"Hello."

They both screamed in terror, thinking it was a horrendous monster. However, in further exposure to the light, they realized it was just a short, hunchbacked, old woman with olive-skinned woman and a mane of long, white, messy hair. She was wearing a red robe with dark-brown hand prints on the front. "I'm the Hand Witch—"

"No. Really? I would've never guessed after the trapdoor of hands we just fell through." Stan replied, sarcastically. "Listen, lady. We don't really have the time to go through your whole get up. We're kind of on one of those magical quest things."

"Let's see if you can complete your precious quest without your hands!" the Hand Witch shouted. She snapped her fingers and suddenly both Abbey and Stan's hands left their wrists and scurried to the Hand Witch's side.

"Scratchy, Shaky, no!" Stan shouted, trying to reach out and grab them back. They scurried onto the Hand Witch's shoulder and handed her Abbey's ring.

"Oh, what's this? An engagement ring. For me? Of course, I'll marry you, you hunk of a man." the Hand Witch exclaimed, as Stan's hand placed it on her ring finger.

"What? I didn't ask you to marry me. It's not even my ring. I took it off of her." Stan argued, pointing his empty wrist at Abbey.

"Why does she get to marry such a hunk? What does she got that I don't?"

"Other than a face that doesn't look like it was mauled by a tiger—"

"Hang on, I'm not marrying anyone," Abbey protested, in her own defense. Although, she had to question the ring's presence. It may have just been the memory loss, but she didn't remember the ring even being on her finger before Stan had mentioned it. It gave her an odd feeling looking at it too, "At least I don't think…"

"Look, we really don't have time for this. Can you just give us our hands back now? We're sorry we crash landed in your oubliette, but we're just trying to get to the goblin city."

"Please, I've lost something very important and I only have little time left to retrieve it." Abbey begged. A convenient thirteen hour clock had been placed in the far wall. She had already gone through five hours.

"Alright, I'll give you your hands back," the Hand Witch agreed. She snapped again and the hands returned to their rightful owners. She even gave the ring back to Abbey too. "I'm sorry, it just gets so lonely down here. I just wanted to have a little company for once."

"We'll come back and visit once we go to the goblin city. I promise." Abbey added. The Hand Witch nodded, gratefully, and led them off towards the door. Abbey and Stan exited and were suddenly standing in a sewer like hallway, with the door they just walked through already gone.

"Did you just blatantly lie to that old woman?" Stan questioned, strangely knowing the terms of Abbey's deal, even though she had not told him.

"I think my morality is a bit skewed…" Abbey replied, straight faced. Between gambling a ring and trying to cheat a pair of doors, she got the sense that this new her was not a very moral person compared to her normal sense. She simply handed Stan the ring back and they began to walk along the damp stone corridor. Suddenly, they came face with a cross-eyed old beggar who was wearing a scarecrows hat and had a Band-Aid on his beard. He laughed a bit of a hysterical laugh as they approached and Stan took a step back.

"Spare a bit of change," the beggar asked, shaking a little wooden box at them. Abbey nudged Stan to give him some of the gold she knew that he had, however, he was determined to stay slightly behind her, "You keep cheating, Babydoll."

The Goblin King appeared transfigured from the old man and piles of rags, probably like Stan had expected he would. Abbey was more shocked and took a few steps back with Stan.

"Your majesty! What a surprise—"

"Stanley."

"It's Stanford."

"You keep telling yourself that." the Goblin King smirked. With one swift motion of his cane, he removed Stan from behind Abbey and pinned him to the wall. Helping the girl was a treasonous offence, punishable by death. Everyone had been warned of that. Sarah would've never gotten through the Labyrinth and defeated Jareth without the help of the friends she met along the way. If Abbey got the same sort of help, she could win too. Not that she could actually defeat him, but she could still get away from his clutches and he wouldn't get what he wanted, "Now, may I ask what you are doing?"

"I'm—taking her back to the beginning of the Labyrinth. Just like you wanted." Stan stammered, between gasping breathes, desperately trying to pry away the stabbing cane to breath properly again.

"You're what—"

"I told her I was going to take her to the city, but I was really planning to take her back to the entrance."

"For free? How generous of you." the Goblin King added. Knowing many different Stan Pines over many different universes, Bill knew that, like him, he did nothing without a price. What had he taken from Abbey?

"Well—actually. She gambled her ring in exchange for my help." Stan replied, showing the ring in his palm, trying to make it sound like it wasn't his fault. The Goblin King swiped the ring out of his hand with a murderous expression and jabbed the cane further into Stan's chest.

"Were you the one who gave me the ring, Goblin King?" Abbey questioned, in attempt to distract him from stabbing the cane right through Stan's gut. She was angry at him for lying to her, but not enough to want him dead. The Goblin King surprisingly stopped to answer her, the question peeked a little of his interest.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, in retaliation, a curious rise in his voice. It was a peculiar thing, yet irrelevant thing, for someone with practically no brain to ask him.

"You call me by something affectionate that I know is not my real name and you seem to be angered by the fact I gave it to Stan," Abbey answered, simply. "It also kind of looks like you."

He bust out cackling with the same laughter as before. Apparently she had said something funny to him. The part about it looking like him, that's how she figured it out. It was hysterical.

"Even with your brain full of sawdust, you're too clever." the Goblin King laughed, madly. He suddenly stopped, took up her hand and re-placed the ring back upon her finger. "Yes, it's a lovely present from me and you really shouldn't gamble with it, my dear."

"Why?"

"Cause you're mine. You belong to me and I want to make sure I don't lose you in here."

"I thought you wanted me to get lost in the Labyrinth, or take me back to the beginning. Don't you want me to fail?" Abbey reasoned. It was honestly hard to tell whether the Goblin King loved her or hated her. If he really loved her, than he would've just taken her to the city, or at least let her get there without throwing her down touchy-feely trapdoors. However, he still looked at her with obvious interest in his eye.

"I'm obligated to be your adversary and do everything in my power to stop you, but at the same time I'm going to need you to succeed."

"That makes no sense."

"Nothing make sense here," the Goblin King answered, simply. "The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can go back home."

He disappeared into the darkness of the corridor and Abbey attempted to chase after him, clearly not done talking. However, she backtracked in horror as several blades came spinning from the pitch black. A large silver machine with fast spinning blades consumed the corridor in the place of the Goblin King.

"Oh come on." Abbey groaned, as she started to sprint in the opposite direction. She didn't bother to grab Stan, obviously still being angered by his sudden but inevitable betrayal. That thing could chop him to bits for all she cared.

"Jeez, he must really love you to send the cleaners after you." Stan remarked, as he jogged alongside her

"What are you even still doing here?" she snapped, as if there were anywhere else he could even go. "If you're just going to go around and double cross me, I'll throw you in front of that cleaner thing, or whatever it is, right now. I'm not going back to the beginning."

"Trust me, I won't take you back to the beginning. That was a lie to throw him off our trail."

"How can you expect me to believe that? You told me to trust no one!"

"You can trust me. I promise!" Stan shouted. She stayed in a grudging silence and kept trying to out run him. However, even with his short legs, he did not fall behind. Suddenly, a small hopeful glimpse in the long endless tunnel appeared, "There's a turn up ahead. Hurry!"

Both Abbey and Stan dove for the turn and made it just in time as the cleaners swept by them. They sunk into the dust and glittery cobwebs, breathing heavily from the excessive running.

"We made it…" Abbey sighed, leaning against the wall to catch her breath and try and take a moment. However, she tensed up immediately realizing she was still with Stan. Although, she had wanted his help, and desperately needed it if she wanted to get through this thing, Abbey saw how cowardly Stan was against the Goblin King. She saw how fast he turned on her and wondered if this was another risk she wanted to take. "I still don't trust you."

"Look, what other choice do you got?" Stan reasoned. He walked away and started climbing an old wooden ladder placed along the wall. He didn't look back to see if she would follow. Despite what he said she did have other choices, they just seemed like worst options then trusting him.

Finally, making her decision despite how ill-fated a decision it might, Abbey silently followed him up the ladder into the light.


	9. Into the Unknown

Chapter 9

Into the Unknown

Dipper woke up in the forest. A dark, dreary forest, he didn't remember walking into. However, unlike with Abbey, Dipper did remember everything that had happened prior to blacking out. Bill taking control of Abbey, kissing him, than pushing him and Mabel into the portal. Apparently, he was in another dimension. Dipper looked around at the dying trees and the orange leaves, to survey his surroundings. He was in a place where summer had already ended. It was fall, almost winter. But before Dipper could even worry about how cold his legs were going to be in shorts, or the lameness of the dimension he had been dropped into considering all the possibilities, he was hit with a sudden terrifying realization. He was alone and his sister was gone. Dipper quickly rushed up, after realizing she was not lying there beside him and called out for her in the darkness,

"Mabel! Mabel!"

"Hello, who is there?" a voice answered back. It was not his sister's voice, but perhaps they'd seen her pass by, or be taken away by a certain evil yellow triangle and his meat puppet. A lantern shone bright in his face and, once the figure lowered it, a young girl was revealed to be carrying it. She was not much older than Dipper, maybe about fourteen or so. However, she certainly didn't look the part of an average fourteen year old girl, or at least not one from 2012. The girl was wearing old colonial clothes, slightly hidden under a dark grey wool traveling cloak, and her light brown hair was a little unkempt.

"Hi, I-I'm—Dipper. I'm—looking for my twin sister Mabel. I'm afraid she might be lost in these woods. You wouldn't have happened to have seen her?" Dipper stammered, mostly out of pure fear and adrenaline, rather than what would normally just be because he was talking to a girl. He just had to find Mabel as soon as possible, nothing else would register in his brain at this moment except that goal.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen her. I'm terribly sorry," the girl replied, solemnly. She looked closely at his panicked hair tugging and worried expression off in random directions. It was clear the boy was just as lost as his sister, "Do you need a place to stay? These woods are not a safe place to be at night and you won't be any good to your sister dead."

"No, I'm good. I mean—we literally just met and I wouldn't want to bother you, or anything—" Dipper tried to argue. Although, he had no idea of the unknown terrors that resided deeper into the forest, Dipper was sure he could handle whatever this forest threw at him. He'd been spending his entire summer in Gravity Falls, fighting off monsters and solving mysteries. This place couldn't possibly be worst.

"It's no trouble. I'd rather you be safe," the girl replied, dismissively. Suddenly, another voice could be heard amongst the rustling of the trees and whisper of the night. A deep baritone was singing far off in the distance about chopping down the woods, growing slowly nearer with every second they stood listening to it. The girl glared off into the trees, "I don't need to be giving _him_ anymore souls to reap…"

"Okay then…" Dipper agreed, finally. He couldn't help but be confused as to what the girl was talking about. However, decided it was best not to question it in the moment, kind of sensing it was a tender taboo subject. She was obviously referring to the voice in the distance, but he did not see how the person was seen as threat or a danger. A villain singing in the darkness, what was he? The Phantom of the Opera? If all he had to worry about was this deformed opera singer in the woods, Dipper would be just fine without the girl's sanctuary. However, if he was indeed someone as dangerous as the girl acted he was, Dipper would do well with some context on exactly who _he_ was and also where this place was. The girl gestured for Dipper to follow her and they began to speedily walk through the trees together, "You never told me your name."

"I'm Anna."

"It's nice to meet you." Dipper stated, trying his best to smile and sound sincere, but still was slightly shaking a bit. Thinking he was just cold, which he partly was, she passed him her cloak and he accepted it gratefully, "Thanks."

They soon arrived on the porch of a nice wooden cabin, dark and seemingly empty. After wiping their feet at the door mat, they slowly entered the black room. Anna claimed to live there, however, she seemed very on guard for someone entering her own home.

"Aren't your parent's home?" Dipper asked, looking around at the vast empty living room as they stepped inside. That must've been why she was so on guard. Surely, they would have objections to their daughter bringing home some strange boy she found in the woods in the middle of the night, as most parents usually did.

"No…" she sighed, glumly. She took her lantern over by what Dipper could slightly see was the outline fireplace and started attempting to make a fire, probably not planning on answering his question fully. However, she knew that it would not be able to remain secret for long, especially if _he_ was to come home early. "I've been lost for a while now too."

"What happened—if you don't mind me asking, that is?" Dipper asked, cautiously. He went down to sit with her by the dim growing flame that was now in the hearth of the fireplace and hopefully hear her tragic back story.

"About a year ago, I snuck out at night to get fire wood to stock for winter and was captured by _him_. My father didn't like me going into the woods but, not believing in all the stories about the Beast, I went out despite him. However, I soon came face-to-face with the Beast. He kept me in the forest for a while, before I escaped and returned back here. Unfortunately, when I came back, my father was gone. I've been kept trapped here by the Beast ever since. He comes back often…" Anna explained, with just as much caution. Surely, when Dipper fully processed what she had just said, he would be high-tailing it out of there as fast as he could any moment. She waited, but he did not run.

"The—who?"

"Surely, you must've heard of the Beast." she remarked, obviously dumbfounded. There wasn't a person in all of the Unknown that hadn't heard of the Beast before. She was starting to wonder who exactly she had picked up. Dipper didn't act like anyone from the Unknown.

"Sorry, I'm not exactly from around here, so I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. In fact, I don't even actually know where I am." he replied, truthfully.

"Well, welcome to the Unknown, then. I fear you are more lost then you realize."

"Great. Thanks a lot Bill," Dipper sighed, with a hint of a sarcastic tone. Although, he had said that, Dipper was actually relying on Bill for the first and only time. He actually prayed that Bill had gotten ahold of his sister. If she was in Bill's clutches, at least she would be somewhat safer than if she was out there alone with this Beast thing prowling the woods. He didn't know this Beast and what he was capable of, but he knew Bill. Bill is mad enough to do anything, that's an obvious fact. However, Dipper knew despite that fact, he wouldn't hurt them. At least not now, considering he needed them for his evil plans. "Look, I really need to find my sister and a way back home. Do you know anyone or anything that could help me?"

"I overheard the Beast talk of a book called the Tome of the Unknown, with someone outside the cabin a few nights ago. It's supposedly a legendary book containing everything that has ever been lost or forgotten," Anna answered, with a whimsical uplift in her voice. It sounded like such a wonderful magical object, even if the Beast had been the one talking of it. She would give anything to find a book like that for herself, if only she could leave. "Perhaps, it might be able to help find your sister and a way back to your home."

"It sounds nice and all, but unless it's got a map to my sister and a portal that can cross worlds, I don't think it'll be much help." Dipper added, sarcastically.

"Cross worlds? You mean to tell me, you wish to go back to the 'other side'? That's impossible," Anna gasped. "You can't just go back and forth willy nilly. It requires great power, not even the Beast has."

"There has to be some way. I can't just be stuck here…" Dipper argued. He couldn't be trapped here, expected to wander lost in the woods forever. There had to be a way out involving Bill's plan. He thought back harder on Bill's words, despite how much he didn't want to, considering they had been coming out of Abbey's mouth. He didn't want to have to think about that sudden betrayal and that wretched girl ever again, but if he wanted to find Mabel and win he had to pay closer attention to what Bill had been saying,

"_Bye-bye, Pine Tree. Into the parallel universe machine, to fetch me those journals."_

Dipper gasped as the realization suddenly hit him. Not only did the author have three more journals, but Bill had sent him, Mabel, and Abbey into this universe to find them. The author might even be somewhere in the Unknown, guarding them, "Do you know what this Tome of the Unknown looks like, or where it might be? Has this Beast thing said anything more about it?"

"Not that I have heard," Anna answered, probably failing to see how the tome was still relevant, not being in on Dipper's inner monologue with himself. "The Beast is not normally around and, when he is, he isn't always in the mood to talk."

"Then, why don't you just run away? Go out and try to find your father yourself?" he questioned.

"The Beast would find me I am certain and it could cost me my life," she snapped, angrily. "It is better to just sit here and obey him."

"No, it's not," Dipper said, a little too bluntly. "Look, I don't know this Beast, but I've dealt with creatures like it. They seem all powerful and knowing, when in reality they're just sickly creatures who need to make a lot of deals to survive in the world. He must have some kind of motive for doing all of this."

"But, why me? Why my family? My father is but a simple woodsman and I'm nothing special."

"I don't know." Dipper answered, truthfully. Honestly, it wasn't really his problem and he didn't want to add further onto the countless mysteries he needed to solve. He had his own demon to deal with. However, his morality and guilt got the better of him. He couldn't just leave this poor girl trapped with a monster, "I get you're trying to protect your father and want to believe he made a deal with the Beast, but it's really pointless to just continue to sit by and wait. Come with me to find the Tome of the Unknown and we'll use it to find your father and defeat this Beast."

"I thought you didn't think it would be of any help?" she reasoned.

"If my suspicions are correct, the tome might be more powerful than the rumors say it is." he reasoned back. This Tome of the Unknown might be one of the journals and if he wanted to navigate the woods to find it he would need someone who knew them. Once he had it, he could trade it for his sister and they could go home. If it was an actual tome, like the rumors said, then he could use it to find Mabel himself and help Anna find her father.

"Yes, I'll go with you." Anna agreed, with a hopeful rise in her tone. She had dreamed of escaping many times, however, always talked herself out of it thinking it was impossible. But, with Dipper's help, maybe things might be different. "We shall pack some supplies and leave at sunrise."

Suddenly, there was a faint clicking of the doorknob about to be opened, but having a little struggle, as old doors often give people.

"Oh no! He's returned. Quickly, you must hide." Anna whispered, in a panic, shoving Dipper away. Thankfully, there was a wardrobe filled with winter cloaks and jackets along the wall and Dipper was hastily able to climb inside, while Anna quickly was able to slam the doors shut. There was the slightest crack where Dipper could see nothing, but two glowing eyes facing Anna. She looked emotionless and vacant, despite being in a panic seconds ago, "Welcome home."

"Anna, my dear, what are you doing awake at such a time?" the eyes asked Anna, in a deep caring voice. Dipper recognized it as the same one that was singing in the woods. It was the Beast.

"I was having trouble sleeping." Anna answered, monotony.

"My poor dear, it's nearly dawn—" The eyes stopped and noticed the flickering fire in the fireplace that was always supposed to remain empty, "What a nice fire. Wherever did you get the wood to light it? You didn't, by any chance, leave? Did you?"

"It was just outside the cabin. I know you don't like fire, but it's getting colder. It's almost win—"

"I did not ask for your excuses, child. You know you are not ever to leave this house!" the Beast snapped, suddenly going from calm to enraged in mere seconds. The eyes somehow created a great gust of wind and blew the fire out. Then, they began to glow rainbow colors that made them look so demented, even Dipper shivered. His likeness to Bill was uncanny, yet there was something about not being able to see the creature attached to the eyes that made this Beast much more terrifying.

"I am sorry." Anna quivered, sinking to the ground, slight tears growing in her eyes. The Beast sighed, perhaps feeling a little sorry, or maybe it was just exasperation. He was growing tired of being settled with this girl, but she was necessary to him.

"I do not wish to keep you here, but the world is a cruel, unfair place," the Beast added. "I am only protecting you from it, in the place of your wretched, no-good father, who abandoned you here."

"I know." Anna sighed, her head sunk with hopelessness. The Beast seemed content with her sorrow and turned to leave into the darkness once more.

"I only meant to briefly check on you. I must be off again. Get some sleep, my dear. I'll be back sometime tomorrow." he stated.

"For my birthday?"

"Of course, I have not forgotten."

"I just thought, if it's not too much trouble, you could get me some of my favorite mushrooms." she asked, lifting her head a little, careful to not overstep her boundaries. As displayed earlier, one wrong word or action had bad consequences.

"I would gladly get you some, but they're in a remote part of the Unknown. I won't make it in time—"

"That's alright we can just celebrate when you return."

"A week, then. That's how long it shall take me. You'll be okay on your own for an entire week?" the Beast questioned.

"You've been gone for much longer." Anna replied.

"And you've always been right here when I've returned." the Beast added, sounding a little to assure. After all these years maybe he had come to trust the young girl a little too much, completely unaware her new partner in crime was hiding in the wardrobe and she was plotting her escape this very second. Or maybe it was because he knew that even if she ran there was no way she could escape his forest. "Alright, I'll be off then. You know the rules."

He left and Anna sighed a breath of relief, as she once again successfully survived another encounter with a creature you were only ever supposed live to see once.

"Yikes, that was rough. Are you okay?" Dipper asked, as he began to lower himself out of the wardrobe.

"I'm used to it." Anna sighed, sitting down by the dim coals of the fire to try and gain their last bit of warmth.

"He's kind of like an overprotective father, rather than a monster though." Dipper added.

"A clever ruse I assure you. A real father would know when my real birthday is." she reported.

"You were lying?"

"I just bought us a good week at best before he goes after us."

"You're pretty good, for a shut in."

"Well, what do you think I've been sitting here doing for all these years? Come on, we've got to get going."

They packed some food, found Dipper some old pants and a cloak to wear, and left the house as the sun began to rise. The two wandered through the woods following a vague sort of path without trees, but no real indication it was a road of sorts and would actually lead them somewhere.

"Do you remember how you and your sister came to the Unknown exactly?" Anna asked, in an attempt to make a little conversation as they walked.

"It's kind of a long, unbelievable story," Dipper remarked, vaguely. If she was going to understand properly, he'd have to start where it all started. Day 1. She gave him a look telling him that he could continue regardless, "It all started at the beginning of summer…"

Dipper weaved a tale of every single thing he and Mabel had been through that summer. Gnome attacks, Summerween, a magical unexplained copier that made copies come to life, falling into the bottomless pit, Founder's Day conspiracies, video games gone sentient, a sock opera ruined by an evil triangle. All the monsters and mayhem that had ensued in those short couple of months spilled out into a long story. He had to backtrack in some points to explain some of the technology, but for the most part Anna seemed to understanding. Although, compared to her life as a kidnapped shut in with abandonment issues, she could not exactly relate to the adventures and fun of a pair of twins having the greatest summer of their lives.

"Wow." That was all she had to say when he was done. Wow. What more could be said about such a heavy story? Dipper had made it a bitter point to leave Abbey out, replacing her with Mabel for her portion of the story and having Bill just straight up push them in the portal. He was holding one heck of a grudge that only grew worst as he stayed here. Of course, when Abbey had been told of him and Mabel's adventures before, she had a billion different questions that were probably being repeated straight out of Bill's non-existent mouth.

"Yeah, it's not exactly what I expected out of this sum—" Suddenly, Dipper stepped into something squishy and a wet mushy feeling crawled up his ankle. He looked down to see he stepped right through a small, slightly rotting pumpkin. As he struggled to remove it, he stepped into another not far away. So enveloped in his own story, he hadn't realized he had walked them straight through a field of pumpkins. They looked out to see a small, serene town about a mile down and a road leading straight to it.

"Hey, look a town. Maybe someone there has a map, or some information about the tome." Anna exclaimed, pointing to the houses beyond the field.

"I thought you knew where we were going."

"Of course not."

"I guess that settles it then." Dipper added, putting one pumpkin foot in front of the other to starting walking towards the road.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you…"

They were stopped in their tracks by a black cat that was perched on the top of a large pumpkin. Assuming the pumpkins weren't sentient, it was the only living thing that could've been the source of the warning.

"Harvest time has not yet ended and the town doesn't take to well to outsiders." the cat added, confirming that it was the voice that spoke to them.

"A talking cat!" Anna gasped. You'd think after living with a creature called the Beast, a talking cat would be the last thing she was surprised by. "That's impossible."

"Meh, I've seen stranger," Dipper remarked, indifferent, considering all the monsters Gravity Falls thrown at him. "So, what do you expect us to do cat?"

"I can help you. Wait here. I'll be back to guide you safely." the cat reported, leaping down onto ground. It walked behind a pumpkin hardly bigger than itself and just stayed there. They waited for it to comeback out again and actually leave somewhere, however, there was nothing. Anna decided to finally pick up the pumpkin, only to find the cat was gone.

"Where'd he go?"

"Well, he's a magical talking cat. So, I'm guessing we'd be wrong to assume he can't teleport."

"Are we really taking orders from a sketchy cat we just met?"

"You got some other plan to get us through town."

"It can't be that bad. Let's just go." Anna reasoned, already foolhardily storming off to the path. Dipper having no more excuses, ran after her. She was probably right. What could the town's people possibly do to them? It's not a crime to walk through a town. However, before they were even able to get within fifty feet of the seemingly quiet and peaceful settlement, they were stopped by something large swiftly coming up the path for them. At first it looked like a giant octopus with a large orange head and many green arms, however, an octopus would not be so fast on land. When it got closer, its features were more distinguished. The head was fashioned like a pumpkin with an eerie creepy face carved in, while the green ligaments were a ribbon, or streamer, like vines.

"Oh god. Monster pumpkin thing! Anna, run!"

"Ha-ha, funny traveler. I have merely donned my costume. Don't you recognize my voice?" it said to Dipper, crouching down to face him, as if that wasn't going scare him more. Dipper stopped and listened. The cat? It was impossible. That skinny, mangy thing couldn't be hiding in this fifteen foot creature. "I am Enoch."

"Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Dipper and this is Anna." Dipper added, not knowing if he should hold out his hand to shake one of the moving green arms.

"Dipper Pines, right?" Enoch inquired.

"How'd you know?"

"I've seen your sister."

"You have! Where is she? Is she alright?" Dipper questioned, rapidly, his brain going on red alert at once. Mabel was okay. Maybe she was even in town, sitting eating pancakes or something, totally unharmed and all his worry was for nothing.

"She's fine. For now…"

"I don't like how you said that…"

"It's alright. I'll make sure _she_ doesn't do much harm." Enoch replied, in attempt to calm Dipper's worries about the safety of his sister, to no avail.

"Abbey?" Dipper questioned, with a hint of anger at the obvious mention of her.

"In a way yes, in another sense, no." Enoch answered, vaguely. "You see, your sister is not actually in the Unknown, despite what Cipher wants you to believe. She's in another universe."

"And you know this how?"

"I can, and I alone, can travel freely to the universe she is in. It's a skill of mine."

"Then, how can I save her?"

"I'm not too acquainted with your sister yet, but I get the sense she doesn't need saving. She just needs a little guidance," Enoch added. Dipper sighed a hopeless, for probably the millionth time since coming here. She didn't need guidance. She needed him is what she needed. And he needed her. "You should be worried about getting yourself back to your own universe. I'll assist you sister later."

"Do you know about the Tome of the Unknown?" Anna asked, re-directing the conversation.

"Only whispers. John Crops often sings songs of it, but I'm afraid I know nothing much of its origin or whereabouts." Enoch answered.

"Do think this John Crops would know?"

"Perhaps. He lives up the road, just beyond town. Come, done these and I will take you to him." Enoch added. He moved to reveal he had two more similar costumes hiding under his green streamer like arms. They both got into the pumpkin costumes, cautiously. Once they were inside without danger, the two followed after Enoch, hoping to see the town that was apparently so vicious outsiders were not allowed. However, all they saw when they arrived in the town called Pottsfield they found it was a normal little town of other people in pumpkin costumes. A bit strange, but not deadly. The costumes did give Dipper and Anna the creeps, though. The hollow eyes stared right through them. Thankfully, they made it through without trouble. Enough lead them up the hill until they arrived at a fancy garden gate covered in ivy. They could hear the strung of a guitar, playing a gentle inviting tune. They ditched their costumes at the front and followed the sweet sound to meet this John Crops character. Dipper and Anna gasped at another pumpkin headed man. Although, they'd just walked through a town of pumpkin people, this man was different from the townsfolk. He wasn't wearing a costume. His eyes were small and lifelike, his body made of a large watermelon, and he had pickles for legs and arms. He was sitting by a car made out of a giant watermelon and other abnormally large vegetables, blending in.

"Well howdy there, Enoch. What brings you up here to visit?" he smiled, standing up and tipping his straw hat to them.

"I have some patrons here, wishing to hear what one of your tales of the Tome of the Unknown." Enoch replied, as he hopped onto Dipper's shoulder to face John properly.

"Skip the song part. I mean, no offense, but we're kind of in a rush here." Dipper added, before he could start singing.

"I understand. Who wants to listen to old John Crops such singing his sad songs anyhow?" John replied, with a sorrowing wistful sigh. "The legends say that the Tome of the Unknown lies hidden deep in the Unknown in a place by the name of Petrafact's Cove."

"I believe I know the place. It'll be far, but not impossible to reach. May we take your car, John?" Enoch asked, hopping off Dipper's shoulder onto the hood of what was apparently an actual car. Dipper and Anna walked over to take a closer look at the vegetable car in amazement.

"This old clunker. Well, I was planning on driving it to the city, finding me a gal and leaving this sad life behind. I couldn't bear to give that dream up."

"What if we take you to the city on our way and after you give us the car?" Anna reasoned.

"That sounds like a swell idea. Alright, let's give it a try." John smiled. He turned the crank on the front of the car and the car began to hum, like it had a real engine.

"Can you even drive? You have pickles for arms. In fact, how do you even pick things up? Or pluck the strings on that guitar?" Dipper questioned, curiously, finally debating some of the practicality that was John Crops. Did he have internal organs?

"Well, I reckon if you can drive better, hop to it, boy."

"Dipper, can _you _even drive?" Anna questioned, sounding skeptical, yet still taking shotgun as Dipper slid into the driver's seat.

"I've been driving the golf cart all summer, this shouldn't be much of a problem." Dipper replied, confidently. Enoch and John hopped in the back seat, while Dipper fiddled with the stick shift a bit. Suddenly, the car sprung forward out of the garden patch. Dipper quickly steered them, drove out of the garden, and out down the road towards the big city.

It was a nice autumn sunset as they drove along high fields of the countryside. John and Enoch were chatting in the back, while Anna was look around wildly at the scenery. It was kind of a weird place, but there was a lot of beauty to it. Dipper got distracted for a moment, looking at the sights with her, before she turned back to him.

"You're actually not—" However, her sentence was cut short after she saw something Dipper had yet too. Someone crossing the road. "Watch out!"

Dipper tried to swerve, but it was too late. They hit whoever it was and the car slammed into a fence.

"Dipper! You just hit someone!" Anna gasped, rushing from the vehicle to the stranger's side. Dipper went to join her, once his head stopped spinning a little, hoping he hadn't just murdered someone. She was bent down beside a boy. He had a blue marching band cloak and was wearing a red pointy cap Dipper couldn't believe he didn't see coming.

"Oh no. I hit a giant gnome!"


End file.
